Palabra Lexi · words by topic · Spanish
Spanish Words: Time & Weather — with Pronunciation and Memory Hooks
Level A0 · first words · 20 words
Today, tomorrow, week, month, days of the week, sun, rain and snow: words for plans, schedules and small talk about the weather.
Spanish is read almost exactly as it's written: stress falls on the second-to-last syllable when a word ends in a vowel, n or s, otherwise on the last one, and exceptions carry an accent mark (café, estación). Nouns are masculine (el) or feminine (la). Pronunciation below is spelled out in English, stressed syllable in capitals.
Time & Weather in Spanish: word list
| Spanish | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| hoy | OY | today |
| mañana | mah-NYAH-nah | tomorrow / morning |
| ayer | ah-YEHR | yesterday |
| semana | seh-MAH-nah | week |
| mes | MEHS | month |
| año | AH-nyoh | year |
| hora | OH-rah | hour |
| minuto | mee-NOO-toh | minute |
| lunes | LOO-nehs | Monday |
| domingo | doh-MEEN-goh | Sunday |
| verano | beh-RAH-noh | summer |
| invierno | een-BYEHR-noh | winter |
| sol | SOL | sun |
| lluvia | YOO-byah | rain |
| nieve | NYEH-beh | snow |
| viento | BYEN-toh | wind |
| frío | FREE-oh | cold |
| calor | kah-LOR | heat |
| nube | NOO-beh | cloud |
| temprano | tem-PRAH-noh | early |
Memory hooks for these words
A sound-alike is an English word or phrase that sounds like the foreign one. The scene ties it to the meaning: you recall the sound, the sound brings back the picture, the picture brings back the meaning. Read each scene once, then try to recall the meaning a minute later without looking at the list.
hoy [OY] — today
Sounds like: “hoy (like 'hoy!' shout)”. You shout 'Hoy!' waving your calendar today, pointing at today's date on the wall.
Hoy es lunes — Today is Monday
mañana [mah-NYAH-nah] — tomorrow / morning
Sounds like: “man yawner”. A man yawns loudly at dawn, stretching because morning has just arrived outside his window.
mañana — tomorrow morning
ayer [ah-YEHR] — yesterday
Sounds like: “air-yeah”. You breathed the air yesterday and said 'yeah' remembering that whole eventful day.
Ayer fue mi cumpleaños — Yesterday was my birthday
semana [seh-MAH-nah] — week
Sounds like: “seaman”. A seaman marks off each day on his calendar, crossing one full week before docking at port.
Trabajo toda la semana. — I work all week.
mes [MEHS] — month
Sounds like: “mess”. You make a huge mess in the kitchen, and it takes a whole month to clean it up completely.
Este mes ha sido muy ocupado. — This month has been very busy.
año [AH-nyoh] — year
Sounds like: “anyone”. Anyone can age one full year just by waiting through twelve months on the calendar.
un año más — one more year
hora [OH-rah] — hour
Sounds like: “horror”. The horror movie lasted exactly one hour, and viewers checked their watches nervously the whole time.
Es la una en punto de la hora. — It's exactly one hour.
minuto [mee-NOO-toh] — minute
Sounds like: “mini-newt”. A mini newt crawls across the table in exactly one minute, tiny legs scurrying fast.
Solo tomará un minuto — example: It will only take a minute
lunes [LOO-nehs] — Monday
Sounds like: “loonies”. On Monday morning, loonies (crazy people) crowd the subway, yawning and spilling coffee everywhere in a rush.
Lunes por la mañana — Monday morning
domingo [doh-MEEN-goh] — Sunday
Sounds like: “dominant go”. On Sunday the dominant rooster goes strutting loudly around the quiet farmyard alone.
Descanso los domingos — I rest on Sundays
verano [beh-RAH-noh] — summer
Sounds like: “very hot”. It gets 'very' hot, so hot you shout 'oh no' - that's summer weather blazing outside.
El verano es mi estación favorita — Summer is my favorite season
invierno [een-BYEHR-noh] — winter
Sounds like: “in vernal”. A shivering man stands 'in vernal' fields covered with snow, waiting for spring to finally come.
El invierno es frío. — Winter is cold.
sol [SOL] — sun
Sounds like: “sole”. You walk barefoot on hot sand, the sole of your foot burns under the blazing sun.
El sol calienta la playa. — The sun warms the beach.
lluvia [YOO-byah] — rain
Sounds like: “loovia”. Imagine a groovy song called Loovia playing while dark clouds burst open pouring rain onto dancing people.
La lluvia empapó mi ropa. — The rain soaked my clothes.
nieve [NYEH-beh] — snow
Sounds like: “neve”. A glacier's neve field stretches white and frozen, snow packed hard beneath your icy boots
Cayó nieve toda la noche. — Snow fell all night.
viento [BYEN-toh] — wind
Sounds like: “Vincent”. Vincent runs outside as strong wind rips his umbrella away into the stormy sky.
El viento mueve las hojas — The wind moves the leaves
frío [FREE-oh] — cold
Sounds like: “free-oh”. A shivering man shouts 'free-oh!' as icy wind blasts through his open jacket, teeth chattering loudly.
Hace frío hoy — It's cold today
calor [kah-LOR] — heat
Sounds like: “call her”. You call her to complain the heat in the desert is melting your phone screen.
Siento el calor en la piel — I feel the heat on my skin
nube [NOO-beh] — cloud
Sounds like: “noob-eh”. Picture a noob pointing upward, shouting as a huge cloud blocks the airplane's path in the sky.
El avión voló sobre la nube. — The plane flew over the cloud.
temprano [tem-PRAH-noh] — early
Sounds like: “temp-runner”. The temp worker runs into the office very early, before any other employee has even arrived.
Ella se despierta temprano. — She wakes up early.