How to Talk About Basic Weather Conditions

Learn how to talk about basic weather conditions

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Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Can-Do Polish by PolishPod101.com.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about weather conditions in Polish.

For example, "It's sunny." is

Jest słonecznie.

Karolina Kowalski is in sunny Warsaw.

She’s on a long-distance call with Marianna Michalska, her former colleague, who asks about the current weather.

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

Pogoda.

"weather"

Pogoda.

Słonecznie.

"sunny"

Słonecznie.

Literally, "sunnily."

Listen to the conversation, and focus on the response.

Ready?

Jaka jest pogoda?

Jest słonecznie.

Once more with the English translation.

Jaka jest pogoda?

"How's the weather?"

Jest słonecznie.

"It's sunny."

Let's break down the conversation.

Do you remember how Marianna asks,

"How's the weather?"

Jaka jest pogoda?

Let's start with pogoda, "weather." Pogoda. Pogoda.

In Polish, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. Pogoda is feminine and singular — a fact which will determine the form of other words in the sentence.

Let's move to the start of the sentence, jaka, translating as "how" in this context. Jaka. Jaka.

Jaka is feminine and singular to agree with pogoda.

Next is jest, "is." Jest. Jest.

Jest is from the verb być, "to be." Być.

Together, Jaka jest pogoda? Literally "What is weather," but translates as "How's the weather?"

Jaka jest pogoda?

Let’s take a closer look at the response.

Do you remember how Karolina says,

"It’s sunny?"

Jest słonecznie.

This starts with jest, literally "is," but translates as "it is." Jest. Jest.

Jest is from the verb, być, "to be."

Next is słonecznie, literally "sunnily," but translates as "sunny" here. Słonecznie. Słonecznie.

Słonecznie is formed from the adjective słoneczny, "sunny." Słoneczny.

Together, Jest słonecznie. This literally means "Is sunny," but it translates as "It’s sunny."

Jest słonecznie.

The key pattern is

Jest WEATHER CONDITION.

It’s WEATHER CONDITION.

Jest WEATHER CONDITION.

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

Note: This pattern requires an adverb.

Imagine it's cloudy, pochmurno. "Cloudy." Pochmurno. Pochmurno.

Literally "cloudily."

Say

"It's cloudy."

Ready?

Jest pochmurno.

"It's cloudy."

Jest pochmurno.

It’s also possible to use this pattern with a phrase.

Jest ładna pogoda. "It’s nice weather." Jest ładna pogoda.

Starting with pogoda, "weather." Pogoda. Pogoda.

In Polish, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. Pogoda is feminine and singular — a fact which will determine the form of other words in the sentence.

Before this is ładna, "nice." ładna. ładna.

Ładna is singular and feminine to agree with pogoda.

Together, ładna pogoda, "Nice weather." ładna pogoda

All together, Jest ładna pogoda. "It’s nice weather." Jest ładna pogoda.

When talking about the weather, it’s common to use verbs or verb phrases in Polish. When using verbs to talk about the weather, the verbs are always conjugated in the third person singular.

For example, "It's sunny." In Polish świeci słońce.

First is świeci, "shines." Świeci. Świeci.

Świeci is the third person singular form of the verb świecić, "to shine." Świecić.

Next is słońce, "sun." Słońce. Słońce.

Together, świeci słońce, literally "it shines sun," but translates as "It's sunny." Świeci słońce.

Again, the key pattern is

Jest WEATHER CONDITION.

It’s WEATHER CONDITION.

Jest WEATHER CONDITION.

Let’s look at some more examples.

Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers.

Jest słonecznie.

"It's sunny."

Jest słonecznie.

Jest pochmurno.

"It's cloudy."

Jest pochmurno.

Jest ładna pogoda.

"It's nice weather."

Jest ładna pogoda.

Jest wilgotno.

"It's humid."

Jest wilgotno.

Pada deszcz.

"It's raining."

Pada deszcz.

Did you notice how the native speaker used a different phrase?

Pada deszcz.

"It's raining."

First is pada, "it falls." Pada.

Pada is from the verb padać, "to fall." Padać.

Next is deszcz, "rain." Deszcz. Deszcz.

Together, Pada deszcz, literally means "it falls rain," but it translates as "It’s raining." Pada deszcz. Pada deszcz.

Let’s look at one more example of this pattern: "It’s snowing."

Pada śnieg. "It’s snowing." Pada śnieg.

Pada, "it falls." Pada.

Next is śnieg, "snow." Śnieg. Śnieg.

Together, Pada śnieg, literally means "it falls snow," but it translates as "It’s snowing." Pada śnieg. Pada śnieg.

Let's review the key words.

Pochmurno.

"Cloudy."

Pochmurno.

Literally, "cloudily."

Ładna pogoda.

"Nice weather."

Ładna pogoda.

Wilgotno.

"Humid."

Wilgotno.

Literally, "humidly."

Pada deszcz.

"It’s raining."

Pada deszcz.

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 "sunny?"

Literally, "sunnily."

Słonecznie.

Do you remember how Karolina Kowalski says,

"It’s sunny."

Jest słonecznie.

Do you remember how to say "weather?"

Pogoda.

Do you remember how Marianna Michalska asks,

"How's the weather?"

Jaka jest pogoda?

Do you remember how to say

"It’s raining."

Pada deszcz.

And how to say, "cloudy?"

Literally, "cloudily."

Pochmurno.

Do you remember how to say "nice weather?"

Ładna pogoda.

Let's practice.

Imagine you’re Karolina Kowalski , and you’re in Warsaw, where the weather is nice, or ładna pogoda in Polish.

Ready?

Jaka jest pogoda?

Jest ładna pogoda.

Listen again and repeat.

Jest ładna pogoda.

Let’s try another.

Imagine you’re Marianna , and it’s raining in Katowice, or pada deszcz in Polish.

Ready?

Jaka jest pogoda?

Pada deszcz.

Listen again and repeat.

Pada deszcz.

Let’s try one more.

Imagine you’re Karol's friend, Maciej Mazur , and you’re in cloudy Gdańsk, or pochmurno in Polish.

Ready?

Jaka jest pogoda?

Jest pochmurno.

Listen again and repeat.

Jest pochmurno.

In this lesson, you learned how to talk about weather in Polish. This plays an essential role in the larger skill of talking about the weather. Let’s review.

Do you remember how to say “hot”?

Gorąco.

Do you remember how Karolina Kowalski says,

"How hot!"

Jak gorąco!

Imagine you're Jack Jones , and it's cold outside.

Do you remember how to say "cold" in Polish?

Zimno.

Now, tell your friend that it's cold.

Jak zimno!

Tak, dzisiaj jest zimno.

Listen again and repeat.

Jak zimno!

On a different occasion you're traveling in the mountains and talking with your friend on the phone. Your friend asks how the weather is, and it's nice weather.

Do you remember how to say "nice weather" in Polish?

Ładna pogoda.

Respond to your friend and say it's nice weather.

Jaka jest pogoda?

Jest ładna pogoda.

Listen again and repeat.

Jest ładna pogoda.

Well done! This is the end of the lesson and the Can Talk About the Weather unit of this course.

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