está lloviendo
/esta ʝobjendo/from spelling rules
In Spanish, the phrase for "it is raining" is está lloviendo.
The phrase está lloviendo is used to express that water is falling from the sky at the present moment.
Which one should you use?
While está lloviendo emphasizes an ongoing action happening right now, the form llueve is used to state a general fact or a habitual occurrence, such as saying "it rains in winter."
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Spain, the phrase Está chispeando is used specifically to convey that it is drizzling or raining lightly.
How does it change in a sentence?
Because weather phenomena are treated as impersonal-third-person subjects in Spanish, this phrase uses the third-person singular form of the verb estar.
What mistakes should you avoid?
Do not include a dummy subject like él or ello before the verb (for example, *él está lloviendo). Spanish weather expressions do not use personal pronouns.
Did you know?
- If you want to say it is raining cats and dogs, you might say llueven sapos y codornices, which translates to 'toads and partridges are raining'.
- While está lloviendo describes the rain, Spanish speakers often use the phrase caen chuzos to describe a torrential downpour. The word chuzos refers to sharp spikes or skewers, imagining the rain as needles piercing the ground.
- Spanish has a distinct verb chispear for light rain, but in some dialects, this can also mean 'to spark' like an electrical wire. Depending on the context, está chispeando could mean it is drizzling or that something is sparking.
Examples in context
- Está lloviendo a cántaros.It is raining cats and dogs.This sentence shows how to use the idiom for heavy rain with está lloviendo.Tatoeba #505848 by Shishir, translation #2573472 by VirtuOZ
- Mira, está lloviendo.It is raining, you see.This sentence shows how to point out the rain using está lloviendo.Tatoeba #948991 by hayastan, translation #33127 by orcrist
- Está lloviendo ahora.It is raining now.This sentence shows how to specify that the rain is happening at this moment using está lloviendo.Tatoeba #1326824 by hayastan, translation #241941 by CK
- Está lloviendo mucho hoy en la ciudad.It is raining a lot today in the city.
- No podemos salir ahora, está lloviendo a cántaros.We can't go out now, it's pouring down.
- No vayas afuera sin paraguas, está lloviendo a mares.Don't go outside without an umbrella, it's pouring.
- ¡Mira cómo está lloviendo a cántaros afuera!Look how it's pouring down outside!
- Hoy en Madrid está chispeando.Today in Madrid, it's drizzling.
- Está cayendo agua del cielo.Water is falling from the sky.
- 6 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Lucía and Javier are looking out the window before a walk.
- LucíaNo podemos salir porque está lloviendo.We cannot go out because it is raining.
- Javier¿De verdad está lloviendo tanto?Is it really raining that much?
- LucíaSí, Javier, está lloviendo muy fuerte.Yes, Javier, it is raining very hard.
- JavierQué mal, mejor nos quedamos en casa.That's too bad, we'd better stay home.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
