Weather and the seasons of the year

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1. Sentence Construction

Two common ways to ask in American English:

  • "How's the weather today?" (or "How is the weather today?")
  • "What is the weather like today?"

Yes/No questions (Direct questions):
We usually ask directly using "Is it + [adjective]?":

  • "Is it hot?"
  • "Is it sunny today?"
  • "Is it cold outside?"
  • Nota: decir "Is the weather hot?" es gramaticalmente correcto pero suena redundante en inglés y casi nunca se usa.

How to answer:

  • "Yes, it is." / "Yes, it's hot."
  • "No, it isn't. It's cool today."
  • "It's sunny and warm."

Describing Ongoing Weather (Present Continuous, se verá más adelante en el año.)

  • It's raining. (Está lloviendo)
  • It's snowing. (Está nevando)

2. Golden Rules

  • Which verb to use?

    • In Spanish, we use "hace" or "está" (hace calor, hace frío, está lloviendo). In English, we use the verb "to be".

    • In English, we cannot drop the subject. We use dummy pronoun "It" + the verb "to be" (It + is = It's):

      • Correct: It's hot. / It's cold.

      • Incorrect: Is hot. / Makes cold.

  • Key Preposition Rule

    • Always use the preposition IN with seasons:

      • I love to go to the beach in the summer. (or in summer)

      • Leaves turn orange in the fall.

      • It snows a lot in the winter.

3. US Culture Note

In the United States, temperature is measured in Fahrenheit (°F), not Celsius (°C).

  • 70°F is comfortable / warm (aprox. 21°C)
  • 32°F is freexing point (0°C)
  • 90°F or more is very hot (aprox. 32°C)

In the United Kingdom, temperature is measured in Celsius.

 

The Four Seasons (Seasons of the Year)

 

Season US Alternative Pronunciation for Spanish Speakers Sound & Pronunciation Notes
Spring — SPRING No "E" at the start: Do not say espring. Start with pure friction: sss-pring.
Summer — SA-mer The u is open and relaxed (like the u in sun), not Spanish su.
Fall Autumn FAHL In the US, Fall is the standard everyday word (Autumn is more formal). Sounds like fahl, not fa-ul.
Winter — WIN-ter Start with English W (rounded lips like Spanish hu in hueso). Flap / smooth American t-er.

 

Describing the Weather

 

Condition / Noun Adjective Pronunciation (Spanish base) Example Sentence
Sun Sunny SA-ni It's sunny today.
Cloud Cloudy CLAU-di (sounds like clau) It's cloudy this afternoon.
Rain Rainy REI-ni Take an umbrella; it's a rainy day.
Wind Windy WIN-di (short i) It's very windy outside.
Snow Snowy SNOU-i (no initial e) December can be snowy.
Fog Foggy FAH-gi (open American ah) The morning is foggy.
Storm Stormy STOR-mi (no initial e) The skies look stormy.

 

Temperature Words

 

Temperature Meaning / Level Pronunciation Guide Watch Out
Hot Muy caluroso HAHT The "o" sounds like an open "ah", and the "H" is aspirated like a soft Spanish j.
Warm Agradable / templado WORM Rhymes with storm.
Cool Fresco KOOL Long "oo" sound.
Cold Frío KOHLD Starts with an aspirated "c/k" sound.
Freezing Extremadamente frío / congelando FREE-zing Vibrating Z sound (like a buzzing bee).

 

False Friends & Translation Traps (Errores más comunes)

  1. "Hace calor" no se traduce como "Makes heat" ni como "Is hot":

    • Incorrect: Makes heat today. / Is hot today.

    • Correct: "It is hot today." / "It's hot today."

  2. "I have cold / I am with cold" tienen significados diferentes:

    • If a person feels cold: "I am cold." (Never: "I have cold").

    • If a person is sick with a cold: "I have a cold." (Tengo un resfrío)

  3. The S-Cluster Pronunciation. No comenzar las palabras con "E" sino directamente con una "S":

    • Words like Snow, Spring, and Stormy do not start with the vowel "E".

    • Practice having students hiss like a snake first: "ssss-now", "ssss-pring".

 

Exercise 1: Choose the Correct Form (It's / Prepositions)

Complete each sentence with the correct option:

  1. (Is / It's) ________ very cold outside; wear a jacket.

  2. My family usually goes on vacation ________ (in / on) the summer.

  3. Today is a beautiful, ________ (sun / sunny) afternoon.

  4. Leaves fall from the trees ________ (in / at) the fall.

  5. Take a raincoat because it's ________ (rain / raining).

 

Exercise 2: Correct the Mistake

Find and fix the error in each sentence:

  1. Makes very hot in Florida during July. → ____________________________________

  2. I like spring because is warm. → ____________________________________

  3. We go skiing on the winter. → ____________________________________

  4. It's a very wind day today. → ____________________________________

  5. I have cold! Can you close the window? → ____________________________________

 

Exercise 3: Pair Speaking Drill (American Context)

Puedes hacer con un compañero este ejercicio para practicar la pronunciación de las preguntas y respuestas::

  • Student A: "What's your favorite season?"

  • Student B: "My favorite season is [Season] because it's [warm / cool / sunny]."

  • Student A: "How is the weather today?"

  • Student B: "It's [hot / cold / cloudy / windy]."

  • Student A: "What's the weather like in New York in the winter?"

  • Student B: "It's freezing and snowy!"

 

Answer Key (Respuestas)

  • Exercise 1:

    1. It's (Dummy pronoun "It" is required)

    2. in (Seasons take "in")

    3. sunny (Adjective modifying afternoon)

    4. in (Seasons take "in")

    5. raining (Continuous action)

  • Exercise 2:

    1. Makes very hot... → It is very hot in Florida during July.

    2. ...because is warm. → I like spring because it is (or it's) warm.

    3. ...on the winter. → We go skiing in the winter.

    4. ...wind day... → It's a very windy day today.

    5. I have cold! → I am cold! (or I'm cold!)

More exercises

There are many more exercises at Liveworksheets!

If you want you can practice with a lot of exercises at Liveworksheet. (Recuerda que puedes completar los ejercicios en la misma página web y luego hacer la corrección presionando el botón "Finish!" que se encuentra luego del ejercicio).

Liveworksheets Home Page

"In Summer" de la película Frozen

Si quieres practicar Seasons and Weather con una canción difícil pero muy divertida, te invito a que escuches y cantes "In Summer" de la película Frozen, en su versión original en inglés.

Nota: La canción es para un nivel más elevado de inglés del que estamos aprendiendo, por eso es solo una propuesta para que te desafíes.

Desafío extra: ¿Qué palabra en inglés es la que verdaderamente rima en la estrofa "Winter's a good time to stay in and cuddle. But put me in summer and I'll be a..."?

Seasons and Weather Chart