Weather & Seasons
Weather & Seasons
German talks about weather with the impersonal pronoun es, much like English "it rains" — but many common weather expressions use a verb + es construction that doesn't map word-for-word onto English.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
es as a dummy subject for weather
Es regnet. / Es schneit. / Es ist kalt.
It's raining. / It's snowing. / It's cold.
Both English and German require a placeholder subject for weather statements — "it" / es — even though this "it" doesn't refer to any actual thing. This is one of the more comfortable one-to-one matches between the two languages: es regnet lines up directly with "it rains," word for word.
Seasons and months take no article after 'im'
im Sommer, im Winter, im April
in (the) summer, in (the) winter, in April
English optionally drops "the" before seasons ("in summer" or "in the summer" both work). German always contracts in + dem into im before a season or month and never inserts a separate article — im Sommer, never in dem Sommer or in der Sommer. Treat im Sommer/im Winter as a fixed phrase rather than building it word by word.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
| German | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| das Wetter | dahs VET-ter | the weather |
| Es regnet. | es RAYG-net | It's raining. |
| Es schneit. | es shnyt | It's snowing. |
| Es ist sonnig. | es ist ZON-nikh | It's sunny. |
| Es ist kalt. | es ist kahlt | It's cold. |
| Es ist warm. | es ist varm | It's warm. |
| der Frühling | dair FREW-ling | spring |
| der Sommer | dair ZOM-mer | summer |
| der Herbst | dair hairpst | autumn/fall |
| der Winter | dair VIN-ter | winter |
| im Sommer | im ZOM-mer | in (the) summer |