German · A1 · Everyday language
Weather talk in German
Use these simple German phrases to talk with your child about sunshine, rain, wind and snow.
What you'll learn
- Describe common weather conditions.
- Ask what the weather is like.
- Use es ist with weather adjectives.
- Give simple weather-related instructions.
German phrases for weather talk
Es ist sonnig.
It is sunny.
Use es ist followed by an adjective to describe the weather.
Es regnet.
It is raining.
German uses one verb here: regnet means 'rains' or 'is raining'.
Nimm deinen Regenschirm mit.
Take your umbrella.
A natural instruction to one child: take your umbrella along.
Es ist sehr kalt.
It is very cold.
Sehr means 'very' and goes before kalt.
Der Wind ist stark.
The wind is strong.
Wind is a masculine noun, so use der.
Schau dir den Schnee an!
Look at the snow!
A friendly instruction to one child.
Wie ist das Wetter?
What is the weather like?
German asks this with wie, meaning 'how'.
Ein schöner Tag.
A beautiful day.
A short phrase rather than a full sentence, just like the English.
Hear these phrases and practise them
Tildi plays every phrase out loud, tests you in five-minute lessons and builds them into bedtime stories from your own picture books.
Try it free for 7 daysKey words
das Wetter
the weather
Learn Wetter together with its article das.
sonnig
sunny
Related to die Sonne, meaning 'the sun'.
regnen
to rain
Use es regnet to say it is raining.
der Regenschirm
the umbrella
Schirm is a common shorter form.
kalt
cold
Use sehr kalt for 'very cold'.
der Wind
the wind
German nouns begin with a capital letter.
stark
strong
Can describe the wind.
der Schnee
the snow
The related verb schneien means 'to snow'.
schön
beautiful; lovely
The ending changes before a noun: ein schöner Tag.
der Tag
the day
Use ein Tag for 'a day'.
Describing and asking about weather
Use es ist ('it is') with a weather adjective. For rain and snow, use a verb directly after es, without ist. German uses the same present-tense form for 'it rains' and 'it is raining'.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Weather adjective | Es ist + adjective. | Es ist sonnig. — It is sunny. |
| Adding 'very' | Es ist sehr + adjective. | Es ist sehr kalt. — It is very cold. |
| Rain | Es regnet. | Es regnet. — It is raining. |
| Snow | Es schneit. | Es schneit. — It is snowing. |
| Weather question | Wie ist das Wetter? | Wie ist das Wetter? — What is the weather like? |
Giving instructions to one child
For a direct, friendly instruction to one child, use the informal singular command form. With separable verbs such as mitnehmen ('take along') and anschauen ('look at'), the prefix goes at the end. Masculine direct objects use den or deinen instead of der or dein.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Take along | mitnehmen → Nimm … mit. | Nimm deinen Regenschirm mit. — Take your umbrella. |
| Look at | sich etwas anschauen → Schau dir … an. | Schau dir den Schnee an! — Look at the snow! |
More examples
Es ist warm.
It is warm.
Use warm in the same pattern as kalt.
Es ist windig.
It is windy.
Windig is the adjective related to der Wind.
Es schneit.
It is snowing.
Like es regnet, this does not use ist.
Heute ist es sonnig.
It is sunny today.
When heute ('today') comes first, ist stays in the second position, before es.
Das Wetter ist schön.
The weather is lovely.
After ist, schön has no adjective ending.