Talking about rain

Hola, to talk about rain, we can say “Está lloviendo”, but do they also say “hace llueve”  or “hay llueve” ?

Hola Shawn08,

No, it's only used with estar.

Saludos,

Ricardo

Gracias!

¡Hola a todos!

This is a great question! 

As pointed out, there are three main verbs when it comes to discussing the weather haber “to have/ to be,” estar “to be,” hacer “to make/ do.” 

Hacer “to make/ do” is used with a noun when talking about the weather. For example, Hace viento “(It) is windy;" viento is a noun literally meaning “wind.” 

As in English, estar, “to be,” can be used with an adjective or verb conjugated in the present participle. For example, Está bueno, “(It) is nice,” or Está lloviendo, “(It) is raining.”

Haber “to have/ to be” is similar to hacer “to make/ do” in that a noun follows it in relation to talking about the weather. So Hay lluvia “It is raining” (literally “There is rain”) is correct; however, Hay llueve is not as Llueve “(It) rains” is a verb.

In terms of knowing when to use hace and when to use hay or está, it might be helpful to consider that hace is more commonly used with weather conditions that could be considered sensory. For example, Hace frío “(It) is cold.” Hay and está, on the other hand, tend to be a bit more descriptive. For example, Está despejado “(It) is clear.”

I hope this is helpful! 

¡Saludos!

Indy

Thanks for the tip at the end, I was memorizing, but will try to keep the hace hint in mind from now on.