{"id":3272,"date":"2023-01-12T07:09:25","date_gmt":"2023-01-12T07:09:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.escuela-hablamos.com\/?p=3272"},"modified":"2023-01-12T07:09:25","modified_gmt":"2023-01-12T07:09:25","slug":"el-invierno-que-maravilla","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escuela-hablamos.com\/zh\/el-invierno-que-maravilla\/","title":{"rendered":"El invierno – \u00a1Qu\u00e9 maravilla!"},"content":{"rendered":"

To help you talk about el invierno (the winter), here are some useful words and phrases to get you started<\/span><\/h2><\/div>
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Right now here in Madrid hace mucho fr\u00edo <\/b>(<\/i>it\u2019s very cold<\/i><\/b>)<\/i>. But how can that be? Well, contrary to popular belief, no siempre hace calor y sol <\/b>(<\/i>it\u2019s not always hot and sunny<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> in Spain! De hecho <\/b>(<\/i>in fact<\/i><\/b>)<\/i>, Spain has a very varied climate \u2013 ranging from colder and wetter in the north, to hotter and drier in the south. In las islas canarias <\/b>(<\/i>the Canary Islands<\/i><\/b>)<\/i>, you\u2019ll find that the temperature <\/b>(<\/i>temperature<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> is more stable all year at somewhere between 16 and 27 grados <\/b>(<\/i>degrees<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> centigrade.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, as you\u2019re thinking about coming to Madrid to study Spanish<\/b><\/a>, let\u2019s talk a bit more about things in the capital. Right now, en enero <\/b>(<\/i>in January<\/i><\/b>)<\/i>, it\u2019s very usual to have temperatures bajo cero <\/b>(<\/i>below zero<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> at night and also, nieva <\/b>(<\/i>it snows<\/i><\/b>)<\/i>. A few years ago we had the worst snowstorm in 50 years which was great fun as you could see people esquiando <\/b>(<\/i>skiing<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> down the main roads! The Madrid region has lots of monta\u00f1as<\/b> (<\/i>mountains<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> in the north and you can go skiing there several months of the year. Try it when you come here to take a Spanish course<\/b><\/a>!<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Spanish<\/b><\/td>\nEnglish<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
El invierno<\/td>\nWinter<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
noviembre<\/td>\nNovember<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
diciembre<\/td>\nDecember<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
enero<\/td>\nJanuary<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hace (mucho) fr\u00edo<\/td>\nIt’s very cold<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hace viento<\/td>\nIt’s windy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Una tormenta<\/td>\nA storm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Llover<\/td>\nTo rain<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Est\u00e1 chispeando<\/td>\nIt’s drizzling<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Nevar<\/td>\nTo snow<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Llevar<\/td>\nTo wear<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Un abrigo<\/td>\nA coat<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Una bufanda<\/td>\nA scarf<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Unos guantes<\/td>\nGloves<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Unas botas<\/td>\nBoots<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Un paraguas<\/td>\nAn umbrella<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Esquiar<\/td>\nTo ski<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hacer senderismo<\/td>\nGo hiking<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Un mu\u00f1eco de nieve<\/td>\nA snowman<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Apart from all that wintery vocab, let\u2019s take a look at some frases hechas <\/b>(<\/i>set phrases<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> and refranes <\/b>(<\/i>idioms<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> to do with el tiempo <\/b>(<\/i>the weather<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> and see what they mean.<\/p>\n

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Llover a c\u00e1ntaros \u2013 It\u2019s raining buckets\/jugs<\/span><\/h2><\/div>
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I suppose you can already adivinar <\/b>(<\/i>guess<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> what this one means from the literal translation, right? You guessed it \u2013 this phrase suggests that it\u2019s raining really heavily. We might say it\u2019s similar to the phrase \u201cit\u2019s chucking it down\u201d. Ejemplo \u2013 Ayer estaba lloviendo a c\u00e1ntaros y se inund\u00f3 parte de la carretera <\/b>(<\/i>Yesterday it was chucking it down and part of the main road flooded<\/i><\/b>)<\/i>.<\/p>\n

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Hacer un fr\u00edo de perros \u2013 It\u2019s dog cold<\/span><\/h2><\/div>
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Another phrase which you can work out from the bad English version. Yes, this one means that it\u2019s bitterly cold or it\u2019s freezing. Often, in Spanish, we add de perros<\/b> to something which is not very pleasant (poor dogs!). So we can also say hace un tiempo de perros <\/b>(<\/i>The weather is really bad<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> or Juan ten\u00eda un humor de perros <\/b>(<\/i>Juan was in a terrible mood<\/i><\/b>)<\/i>. Curious, verdad<\/b> (<\/i>right<\/i><\/b>)<\/i>? Ejemplo \u2013 Cuando fui a hacer senderismo, hizo un fr\u00edo de perros y volv\u00ed a casa despu\u00e9s de un par de horas <\/b>(<\/i>When I went hiking it was freezing and so I went back home after a couple of hours<\/i><\/b>).<\/i><\/p>\n

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Hasta el 40 de mayo, no te quites el sayo \u2013 Don\u2019t take off your jumper until the 40th of May (meaning the 9th of June!)<\/span><\/h2><\/div>
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What a weird little phrase! This is something very madrile\u00f1o <\/b>(<\/i>from Madrid<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> and so something you\u2019ll hear a lot when you come here to learn Spanish<\/b>. Nobody literally means you should keep a jumper on until the 9th<\/sup><\/span> of June, but it\u2019s referring to the fact that weather here in the capital can be a bit variable <\/b>(<\/i>fickle\/changeable<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> right into late primavera <\/b>(<\/i>Spring<\/i><\/b>)<\/i>. It\u2019s true that we often get d\u00edas lluviosos <\/b>(<\/i>rainy days<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> during May and early June, normally it\u2019s also a bit chilly when that happens as well. Ejemplo \u2013 Sal\u00ed de casa en manga corta pero luego empez\u00f3 a llover y hacer un poco de fr\u00edo. Bueno, deber\u00eda haberme acordado del dicho de hasta el 40 de mayo, no te quites el sayo <\/b>(<\/i>I left my house in short sleeves but then it started getting a bit cold and rainy. Well, I should have remembered the saying that I shouldn\u2019t take off my jumper until the 40th of May<\/i><\/b>)<\/i>.<\/p>\n

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Plan de sof\u00e1, peli y manta \u2013 Sofa, film and blanket time<\/span><\/h2><\/div>
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This one isn\u2019t exactly an idiomatic phrase, but it is something you\u2019ll hear a lot at this time of year when you come to study Spanish<\/b> here in Madrid. Clearly, as the weather isn\u2019t great, there\u2019ll be lots of days when it\u2019s too cold, rainy etc to bother going out. It is true that, at least in the parts of Spain where the weather is more often good than bad, people have a bit of a tendency to cancelar planes <\/b>(<\/i>cancel plans<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> when there\u2019s rain or other poor weather forecast. This doesn\u2019t generally apply to the north, however, which has a much wetter climate than the rest of the country. So, what do we do on such days? Well, as the phrase suggests, it\u2019s plan de sofa, peli y manta<\/b>! Get a blanket out, find a good film, and stay on the sofa – \u00a1ya est\u00e1! <\/b>(<\/i>that\u2019s it!<\/i><\/b>)<\/i>. Ejemplo \u2013 El domingo va a llover todo el d\u00eda as\u00ed que es tiempo de plan de sof\u00e1, peli y manta <\/b>(<\/i>It\u2019s going to rain all day on Sunday so it\u2019s just going to be a sofa day with a film and sitting under my blanket<\/i><\/b>)<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Ok, so there we\u2019ve given you a few useful tiempo <\/b>related phrases to use when you\u2019re discussing the weather both with your friends and your classmates in your Spanish lessons<\/b>. You\u2019ll come across many more such phrases as you learn more of the language, and we\u2019d suggest keeping a note of them so you can remember and use them yourself!<\/p>\n

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Hablamos – full-on Spanish!<\/mark><\/span><\/h3><\/div>
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