A1-24 · Talk about rain, sunshine and temperature
The weather
Use impersonal es with weather verbs and descriptions, including when a time phrase comes first.
About 5 minutes to read · 13 quiz questions
01
Es has no person here
In weather sentences, es does not stand for a particular person or thing. Keep it as the subject: Es regnet means it is raining. Es schneit means it is snowing.
Es regnet.
It is raining.
Es schneit.
It is snowing.
Heute regnet es.
It is raining today.
Im Winter schneit es oft.
It often snows in winter.
Regnen becomes regnet with es. Schneien becomes schneit. German keeps es even though nobody performs the action.
02
Warm, cold or windy
Use es ist with a weather description: warm, kalt, sonnig, windig or bewölkt. These mean warm, cold, sunny, windy and cloudy. The description has no extra ending after ist.
Es ist warm.
It is warm.
Heute ist es windig.
It is windy today.
Das Wetter ist kalt.
The weather is cold.
Die Sonne scheint.
The sun is shining.
Die Sonne scheint means the sun is shining. Here die Sonne is the subject instead of es. Das Wetter means the weather.
03
A short weather report
For temperatures, use Grad after the number: zehn Grad means ten degrees. Minus fünf Grad means five degrees below zero. Ask Wie ist das Wetter? to ask about the weather.
Es sind zehn Grad.
It is ten degrees.
Es sind minus fünf Grad.
It is minus five degrees.
Morgen ist es sonnig.
It will be sunny tomorrow.
Wie ist das Wetter?
What is the weather like?
Today is heute, tomorrow is morgen. A weather report can start with either word, but the verb must still come second: Morgen ist es sonnig.
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Check what you remember with 13 short questions.
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