¿Hace calor?
/ˈaθe kaˈloɾ/word by word
The English phrase "is it hot?" is translated into Spanish as ¿Hace calor?
¿Hace calor? is used to ask about the ambient temperature or the weather.
Which one should you use?
There is a distinction between the weather and a person's physical sensation. Use ¿Hace calor? to ask if the environment or weather is hot, but use ¿Tienes calor? to ask if a person feels hot.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Spain, particularly in Andalusia, you might hear the phrase ¿Hace bochorno? to ask if it is sweltering.
What mistakes should you avoid?
Avoid using ¿Es caliente? to ask about the weather. While English speakers often make this mistake, caliente refers to the temperature of an object, whereas hace calor is used for the ambient temperature or weather.
Did you know?
- While English speakers might say 'it is hot' to describe a person, saying Es caliente in Spanish can imply that the person is 'sexy' or 'erotic' rather than just physically warm.
- The word calor is a linguistic cousin to the English word 'calorie'. Both stem from the same ancient roots describing heat and energy.
- When you say ¿Hace calor?, you are literally saying 'Does it make heat?' This reflects a conceptual way of thinking where the environment 'performs' the heat rather than simply 'being' hot.
Examples in context
- ¿Hace calor aquí?Is it hot here?
- ¿Hace calor ahora?Is it hot now?
- Siento que no hay aire, ¿hace calor?I feel like there is no air, is it hot?
Sources
- IPA marked “word by word” joins the Wiktionary pronunciations of each word (hace, calor) and can differ in connected speech.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries calor, hace, CC BY-SA 4.0.
