fai frío / chove
Talking About the Weather
Fai + noun: Fai sol, Fai frío, Fai calor, Fai vento. Weather verbs: Chove (it's raining), Neva (it's snowing).
How It Works
Asking. Que tempo fai? means "What is the weather like?".
Fai + noun. Use fai, from facer, with a noun:
- Fai sol. It is sunny.
- Fai frío. It is cold.
- Fai calor. It is hot.
- Fai vento. It is windy.
- Fai bo tempo. Fai mal tempo. The weather is good. The weather is bad.
Calor is feminine. In Galician it is a calor, so you say Fai moita calor. See gender differences from Spanish.
Weather verbs. Some verbs name the weather by themselves: chover (to rain), nevar (to snow) and orballar (to drizzle, a word you will hear a lot in Galicia). When they describe the weather, use them in the third-person singular, with no subject: Chove, Neva, Orballa.
Right now and later. To say it is happening now, use estar a or estar + gerund: Está a chover, Está chovendo. To talk about later, use ir + infinitive: Mañá vai chover.
The weather or you? Fai frío describes the weather. To say that you feel cold, use ter: Teño frío (see ter for physical feelings).
Examples (6)
- Que tempo fai hoxe?
What's the weather like today?
- Hoxe fai sol.
It's sunny today.
- En xaneiro fai moito frío.
It's very cold in January.
Frío is a noun here, so it takes moito.
- No verán fai moita calor.
It's very hot in summer.
Calor is feminine, so it takes moita.
- Chove moito en Santiago.
It rains a lot in Santiago.
- Está a orballar.
It's drizzling.
Orballar means to drizzle.
Common Mistakes
Using the Spanish form of facer.
Hace frío.Fai frío.The Galician form of facer here is fai.
Treating calor as masculine.
Fai moito calor.Fai moita calor.In Galician calor is feminine: a calor, moita calor.
Using moi after a weather verb.
Chove moi.Chove moito.After a verb, use moito. Moi only goes before adjectives and adverbs.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Weather expressions use a verb without an empty subject equivalent to English it.
Related Patterns
- ter fame / ter sede / ter fríoTer for Physical Feelings
Teño frío is how you feel; fai frío is the weather.
Level 1 - moi / moitoMoi vs. Moito
Explains why it is moito frío and moita calor.
Level 1 - estar a + InfinitiveAction in Progress: Estar a + Infinitive
Está a chover describes rain happening now.
Level 2 - ir + InfinitiveGoing to: Ir + Infinitive
Vai chover talks about the weather later.
Level 2 - Gender Differences From Spanish
Calor is one of the nouns whose gender differs from Spanish.
Level 2
Words in This Pattern
Practice fai frío / chove in Bubblegum
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