Module 10 · Prepositions and the sentence · Prievārdi un teikums · Level A1

Weather (Laikapstākļi)

Laikapstākļi

A topic that starts almost any conversation — and one of the topics of the exam's speaking section.

Kāds šodien ir laiks? — What's the weather like today?

Weather verbs — impersonal

līst (līt → līst, lija, līs), snieg (snigt → snieg, sniga, snigs), pūš (pūst), spīd (spīdēt), salst (salt — to freeze/be frosty): Vakar lija. (It rained yesterday.) Rīt snigs. (It will snow tomorrow.) Ziemā salst. (It freezes in winter.)

Nouns

laiks (weather and time), lietus (3rd declension: lietus, lietū), sniegs (snow), vējš (wind), saule (sun), mākonis (cloud, pl. mākoņi), debesis (sky — plural), temperatūra, grādi (degrees), migla (fog), ledus (ice), varavīksne (rainbow).

Seasons

pavasarī (in spring), vasarā (in summer), rudenī (in autumn), ziemā (in winter). Pavasaris is 2nd declension (pavasara), rudens is 2nd declension with a special genitive (rudens), vasara and ziema are 4th declension.

Mini-dialogue

— Kāds šodien ir laiks? (What's the weather like today?) — Šodien ir auksts un līst. (Today it's cold and raining.) — Kāds laiks būs rīt? (What will the weather be like tomorrow?) — Rīt būs saulains, plus piecpadsmit grādi. (Tomorrow will be sunny, plus fifteen degrees.) — Man nepatīk lietus. (I don't like rain.) — Man arī. Bet Latvijā bez lietus nevar. (Me neither. But in Latvia you can't do without rain.)

Useful phrases

Laika prognoze (weather forecast) · Ārā ir auksti (it's cold outside) · Paņem lietussargu! (take an umbrella!) · Kāda ir temperatūra? (what's the temperature?) · Pēc lietus nāk saule. (after rain comes sunshine — a saying).

Exercise

1) Today it is warm and sunny. 2) Yesterday it was raining. 3) Tomorrow it will snow. 4) In winter it's cold, minus ten.

Open the lesson in the trainer — with exercises and a “done” mark →Module test 10