How to Talk About Basic Weather Conditions

Learn how to talk about basic weather conditions

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Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Can-Do Italian by ItalianPod101.com.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about weather conditions in Italian.

For example, "It's sunny." is

C’è il sole.

Emily Erba is in sunny Rome.

She’s on a long-distance call with Chiara Lombardi , her former colleague, who asks about the current weather.

Before you hear their conversation, let's preview some of its key components.

tempo

"weather"

tempo

sole

"sun"

sole

Listen to the conversation, and focus on the response.

Ready?

Com'è il tempo?

C’è il sole.

Once more with the English translation.

Com'è il tempo?

"How's the weather?"

C’è il sole.

"It's sunny."

Let's break down the conversation.

Do you remember how Chiara asks,

"How's the weather?"

Com'è il tempo?

First is Com'è, which translates as "how’s." Com'è. Com'è

This consists of 2 parts.

The first is come. "How." Come. Come.

Next is è, "is." È. È.

È is from the verb, essere, "to be." Essere.

Come is contracted with è to form com'è.

Next is il tempo, "the weather." Il tempo.

Let’s start with tempo, "weather." Tempo. Tempo.

In Italian, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. Tempo is masculine and singular — a fact which will determine the form of other words in the sentence.

Before tempo is the article, il. Think of it like "the" in English. Il. Il.

Il is also masculine and singular to agree with tempo.

Together, il tempo. "The weather." Il tempo.

All together, it’s Com'è il tempo? "How's the weather?"

Com'è il tempo?

Do you remember how Emily says,

"It’s sunny?"

C’è il sole.

This starts with c'è. "There is." C'è. C'è.

C’è is the contracted form of ci è.

Ci. "There." Ci. Ci.

Next is è. "Is." È.

È is from the verb, essere, "to be."

Ci is contracted with è to form c'è.

Note, c'è, "there is," is used to talk about the presence or existence of something. It’s not used to describe things.

Last is il sole, "the sun." Il sole.

Let's start with sole, "sun." Sole. Sole.

Sole is masculine and singular.

Before sole is the article, il. "The." Il.

Il is masculine and singular to agree with sole.

Together, il sole. "The sun." Il sole.

All together, it’s C’è il sole. This literally means "There is the sun," but it translates as "It’s sunny."

C’è il sole.

The pattern is

C’è WEATHER CONDITION.

It’s WEATHER CONDITION.

C’è WEATHER CONDITION.

To use this pattern, simply replace the WEATHER CONDITION placeholder with the current weather condition.

Note: This pattern requires a noun phrase, in which a definite article or an adjective is followed by a noun.

Another pattern is often used to talk about weather.

È WEATHER CONDITION.

It is WEATHER CONDITION.

È WEATHER CONDITION.

Note: This pattern requires an adjective.

Before the placeholder is È, "is," which is from essere, "to be." Essere.

Let’s try this new pattern.

Imagine it's cloudy. Nuvoloso. “Cloudy.” Nuvoloso. nuvoloso.

Say

"It's cloudy."

Ready?

È nuvoloso.

"It's cloudy."

È nuvoloso.

When talking about the weather, it’s common to use impersonal verbs in Italian. Impersonal verbs are verbs without a fully stated subject and which are conjugated in the third person singular.

For example,"It’s snowing" in Italian is Nevica.

Nevica, literally, "It snows," is from the verb, nevicare, “to snow.” This is the third person singular form of the verb.

Nevica.

Pay attention. You’ll hear another example of this pattern shortly.

Again, the key patterns are

C’è WEATHER CONDITION.

It’s WEATHER CONDITION.

C’è WEATHER CONDITION.

And

È WEATHER CONDITION.

is WEATHER CONDITION.

È WEATHER CONDITION.

Let’s look at some more examples.

Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers.

C’è il sole.

"It's sunny."

C’è il sole.

È nuvoloso.

"It's cloudy."

È nuvoloso.

C'è bel tempo.

"It's nice weather."

C'è bel tempo.

È umido.

"It's humid."

È umido.

Piove.

"It's raining."

Piove.

Did you notice how the last speaker used a single word instead of a phrase?

Piove.

“It's raining.”

This literally means "Rains," but it translates as "It’s raining." Piove. Piove.

Piove is from the verb, piovere, "to rain." piovere.

The pattern is

WEATHER CONDITION.

Do you remember how to say,

"It’s snowing."

Nevica. "It’s snowing." Nevica.

Let's review the key words.

Nuvoloso. "Cloudy." Nuvoloso. Nuvoloso.

Bel tempo. "Nice weather." Bel tempo. Bel tempo.

Umido. "Humid." Umido. Umido.

Piove. "It’s raining." Piove. Piove.

Let's review.

Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after me, focusing on pronunciation.

Ready?

Do you remember how to say "sun?"

Sole.

And how to say "the sun?"

Il sole.

Do you remember how Emily Erba says,

"It’s sunny."

C’è il sole.

Do you remember how to say "weather?"

Tempo.

And how to say "the weather?"

Il tempo.

Do you remember how Chiara asks,

"How's the weather?"

Com’è il tempo?

Do you remember how to say

"It’s raining."

Piove.

And how to say, “cloudy?"

Nuvoloso.

Do you remember how to say "nice weather?"

Bel tempo.

Let's practice.

Imagine you’re Emily Erba , and you’re in Rome, where the weather is beautiful. "Beautiful weather" is bel tempo. Respond to the question.

Ready?

Com'è il tempo?

C’è bel tempo.

Listen again and repeat.

C’è bel tempo.

Let’s try another.

Imagine you’re Chiara , and it’s raining in Catania. "It's raining" is piove.

Ready?

Com'è il tempo?

Piove.

Listen again and repeat.

Piove.

Let’s try one more.

Imagine you’re Riccardo 's friend, Paolo Parisi , and you’re in cloudy Milan. "Cloudy" is nuvoloso.

Ready?

Com'è il tempo?

È nuvoloso.

Listen again and repeat.

È nuvoloso.

In this lesson, you learned how to talk about weather in Italian. This plays an essential role in the larger skill of talking about the weather. Let’s review.

Do you remember how to say "hot?"

caldo

And do you remember how to say,

"How hot."

Che caldo.

Imagine you're Jack Jones , and it's cold outside.

Do you remember how to say "cold" in Italian?

freddo

Now, tell your friend that it's cold.

Che freddo!

Sì, oggi fa freddo.

Listen again and repeat.

Che freddo!

Now, imagine you're traveling to Florence and talking with your friend on the phone. Your friend asks how the weather is, and it's beautiful weather.

Do you remember how to say "beautiful weather" in Italian?

bel tempo

Respond to your friend and say, the weather is beautiful.

Com'è il tempo?

C'è bel tempo.

Listen again and repeat.

C'è bel tempo.

Well done! This is the end of the lesson and the Can Talk About the Weather unit of this course.

Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills.

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