How to Give an Opinion About the Weather

Learn how to give an opinion about the weather

Dialogue

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Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Can Do German by GermanPod101.com.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about the weather in German.

For example, "It's hot, isn't it?" is

Es ist heiß, oder?

Aylin Ahrens sees her neighbor, Jessica Jager , and starts a conversation about the weather.

Before you hear their conversation, let's preview some of its key components.

heiß

"hot"

heiß

Listen to the conversation, and focus on Aylin's comment.

Ready?

Es ist heiß, oder?

Ja, es ist heiß.

Listen again, with the English translation.

Es ist heiß, oder?

"It's hot, isn't it?"

Ja, es ist heiß.

"Yes, it's hot."

Let's break down the conversation.

Do you remember how Aylin says,

"It's hot, isn't it?"

Es ist heiß, oder?

First is es, "it." Es. Es.

After this is ist, "is." Ist. Ist.

Ist is from the verb sein, "to be." Sein.

Next is heiß, "hot." Heiß. Heiß.

All together, Es ist heiß, literally, "it is hot," or, "It’s hot."

After this is oder, literally "or," but here meaning something like "or is it?" Here it translates as "isn’t it?" Oder. Oder.

All together, it’s Es ist heiß, oder? literally "It is hot, or," but it translates as "It's hot, isn't it?"

Es ist heiß, oder?

Let’s take a closer look at the response.

Do you remember how the neighbor says,

"Yes, it's hot."

Ja, es ist heiß.

First is ja, meaning "yes." Ja. Ja.

Jessica uses Ja to show agreement with the speaker.

Next is es, "it." Es.

After this is ist, "is." Ist.

Ist is from the verb sein, "to be." Sein.

Last is heiß, "hot." Heiß.

All together, Ja, es ist heiß. Literally "Yes, it is hot, " or "Yes, it's hot."

Ja, es ist heiß. 　

The pattern is　

Es ist WEATHER CONDITION.

"It’s WEATHER CONDITION."

Es ist WEATHER CONDITION.

To use this pattern, simply replace the {WEATHER CONDITION} placeholder with the current weather condition.

Note: This pattern requires an adjective.

Imagine it’s cold, kalt. "Cold." Kalt. Kalt.

Say

"It's cold, isn’t it?"

Ready?

Es ist kalt, oder?

"It’s cold, isn’t it?"

Es ist kalt, oder?

Using this verbal exclamation to talk about the weather is meant to elicit a response from the listener or listeners. It’s a way to start a conversation with a German speaker. Finding and creating speaking opportunities is an important skill, and probably more important than sharing practical observations about the weather.

One way of achieving this is simply attaching the word oder, literally "or," to the end of an affirmative sentence.

It’s like a tag question in English.

For example,

Es ist einfach, oder?

"It's easy, isn't it?"

Note, oder is more common in colloquial language. For formal situations, oder is usually replaced by nicht wahr? Literally "not true," but it acts like a tag question.

For example,

Es ist heiß, nicht wahr?

"It’s hot, isn’t it?"

You should be aware of nicht wahr.

Again, the key pattern is

Es ist WEATHER CONDITION.

"It’s WEATHER CONDITION."

Es ist WEATHER CONDITION.

Let’s look at some more examples.

Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers.

Es ist heiß, oder?

"It's hot, isn't it?"

Es ist heiß, oder?

Es ist kalt, oder?

"It's cold, isn't it?"

Es ist kalt, oder?

Es ist schwül, nicht wahr?

"It's muggy, isn't it?"

Es ist schwül, nicht wahr?

Das Wetter ist schlecht, oder?

"The weather is bad, isn't it?"

Das Wetter ist schlecht, oder?

Das Wetter ist schön.

"The weather is nice."

Das Wetter ist schön.

Did you notice how the last two speakers used slightly different phrases?

Das Wetter ist schlecht.

"The weather is bad."

Das Wetter ist schlecht.

Das Wetter ist schön.

"The weather is nice."

Das Wetter ist schön.

Let’s start with the first example, das Wetter ist schlecht. "The weather is bad." Das Wetter ist schlecht.

Let’s start with Wetter, "weather." Wetter. Wetter.

In German, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. Wetter is neuter and singular — a fact that determines the form of other words in the sentence.

Before Wetter is das, something like "the" in English. Das. Das.

Das is neuter and singular to agree with Wetter.

Next is ist, "is." Ist.

Last is schlecht, "bad." Schlecht. Schlecht.

All together, Das Wetter ist schlecht. "The weather is bad." Das Wetter ist schlecht.

The second phrase is Das Wetter ist schön. "The weather is nice." Das Wetter ist schön.

Let’s start with Wetter, "weather." Recall, Wetter is neuter and singular.

Before that is das, "the." Das.

Next is ist, "is." Ist.

Last is schön, "nice." Schön. Schön.

All together, Das Wetter ist schön. "The weather is nice." Das Wetter ist schön.

Let's review the key vocabulary.

Kalt.

"Cold."

Kalt.

Schwül.

"Humid."

Schwül.

Schlecht.

"Bad."

Schlecht.

Schön.

"Nice."

Schön.

Let's review.

Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the native speaker, focusing on pronunciation.

Ready?

Do you remember how to say "hot?"

Heiß.

Do you remember how to say "it?"

Es.

And how to say, "It’s hot"?

Es ist heiß.

And do you remember how Aylin Ahrens says,

"It's hot, isn't it?"

Es ist heiß, oder?

Do you remember how to say "yes?"

Ja.

Do you remember how Jessica Jager says,

"Yes, it's hot."

Ja, es ist heiß.

Do you remember how to say "cold?"

Kalt.

And how to say "nice?"

schön

Do you remember how to say "bad?"

schlecht

And how to say "weather?"

Wetter

Do you remember how to say "the weather?"

das Wetter

Do you remember how to say "The weather is bad?"

Das Wetter ist schlecht.

Let's practice.

Imagine you're Jessica , Aylin 's neighbor. Comment to Aylin on how cold it is. "Cold" in German is kalt.

Ready?

Es ist kalt, oder?

Ja, es ist kalt.

Listen again and repeat.

Ja, es ist kalt.

Let’s try another.

Imagine you're Anouk Ahrens. Comment to your classmate on how bad the weather is. "Bad" in German is schlecht.

Ready?

Das Wetter ist schlecht, oder?

Ja, das Wetter ist schlecht.

Listen again and repeat.

Das Wetter ist schlecht, oder?

Let’s try one more.

Imagine you're Arnold Ahrens. Comment to your neighbor on how nice the weather is. "Nice" in German is schön.

Ready?

Das Wetter ist schön, oder?

Ja, das Wetter ist schön.

Listen again and repeat.

Das Wetter ist schön, oder?

Well done! This is the end of this lesson.

In this lesson, you learned how to give an opinion about the weather, an essential skill for talking about the weather.

Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills.

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You can take it again and again, so try anytime you like.

Our teachers will assess it, and give you your results.

Keep practicing — and move on to the next lesson!

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