Esperanto describes weather in three complementary ways: a subjectless verb such as pluvas, a subjectless esti + adverb phrase such as estas varme, or an ordinary subjectful clause such as la vento blovas. Choosing among them is a matter of perspective: event, ambient condition, or entity.
These patterns are neutral contemporary Esperanto. Weather forecasts also use a denser (formal) style, but everyday conversation favors short finite verbs.
Subjectless verbs present the weather event directly
The core precipitation and storm verbs need no subject:
Pluvas tiel forte, ke ni apenaŭ vidas la alian flankon de la strato.
It is raining so hard that we can barely see the other side of the street.
Nokte neĝis, kaj nun ĉiuj tegmentoj estas blankaj.
It snowed during the night, and now all the roofs are white.
Dum la ŝtormo fulmis kaj tondris preskaŭ senĉese.
During the storm there was lightning and thunder almost continuously.
No hidden thing performs these actions. English requires dummy it; Esperanto simply says pluvas, neĝis, fulmis, tondris. Place and time are ordinary adjuncts: pluvas en Bruselo, neĝis dum la nokto, hajlos posttagmeze.
The most useful set includes:
| Verb | Core meaning |
|---|---|
| pluvi | rain |
| neĝi | snow |
| hajli | hail |
| ŝtormi | be stormy / a storm occur |
| fulmi | lightning flash |
| tondri | thunder |
| venti | be windy / wind blow |
| frosti | be freezing |
Morgaŭ matene frostos, do kovru la junajn plantojn.
It will freeze tomorrow morning, so cover the young plants.
The full ending system works without a subject
Weather verbs take the same invariant endings as all Esperanto verbs.
| Form | Meaning in context |
|---|---|
| pluvi | to rain |
| pluvas | it rains / is raining |
| pluvis | it rained |
| pluvos | it will rain |
| pluvus | it would rain |
| pluvu | may it rain / let it rain |
Se pluvus ĉi-vespere, la aero iom malvarmiĝus.
If it rained this evening, the air would cool down a little.
Pluvu nokte, sed estu sune dum nia ekskurso!
May it rain at night, but be sunny during our excursion!
-Us marks an imagined condition, not a past tense. -U gives a wish here, since no listener can literally be ordered to produce rain. There are no person or number endings to add.
Intensity, duration, and productive word-building
Ordinary adverbs express intensity: forte pluvas, multe neĝas, terure ventas. Esperanto also uses productive -eg- and -et- to intensify or diminish the event.
Ekstere pluvegas; atendu ĝis la plej forta pluvo pasos.
It is pouring outside; wait until the heaviest rain passes.
Matene nur neĝetis, sed posttagmeze komenciĝis vera neĝoŝtormo.
In the morning it only snowed lightly, but in the afternoon a real snowstorm began.
These compact verbs are neutral and expressive, not slang. A (formal) forecast may instead prefer measurable noun phrases such as forta pluvo or malforta neĝado.
For duration, use the simple tense plus a time phrase:
Pluvas jam de tri horoj, kaj laŭ la prognozo la pluvo ne baldaŭ ĉesos.
It has been raining for three hours already, and according to the forecast the rain will not stop soon.
Esperanto present pluvas covers an event continuing now. English present perfect progressive does not require esti + participle in Esperanto. The second clause uses the referential noun la pluvo rather than a dummy weather pronoun.
Ambient conditions use esti + an adverb
Some weather descriptions present a general condition rather than a discrete event. They use esti with an -e form.
Estas varme kaj sufoke en la apartamento; ni malfermu la fenestrojn.
It is hot and stuffy in the apartment; let's open the windows.
Ĉe la marbordo estis nebule, sed interne de la lando estis hele kaj sune.
It was foggy on the coast, but inland it was bright and sunny.
Because there is no noun subject, the descriptions are adverbial: varme, sufoke, nebule, hele, sune. If a noun is stated, use an agreeing adjective:
La posttagmezo estis suna, sed la nokto estos malvarma.
The afternoon was sunny, but the night will be cold.
This is a true subjectful linking clause: suna describes posttagmezo, and malvarma describes nokto.
Environmental transitions with -iĝ-
Verbs in -iĝ- focus on a change of ambient state. They may be subjectless or have an explicit environment-related subject.
Jam mallumiĝas; ni reiru al la kampadejo.
It is already getting dark; let's return to the campsite.
Post la sunleviĝo la aero rapide varmiĝis.
After sunrise, the air warmed quickly.
La lago glaciiĝis ĉe la bordoj, sed la mezo restas danĝera.
The lake froze over along the banks, but the middle remains dangerous.
In subjectless mallumiĝas, the entire visual environment changes. In la aero varmiĝis, the changing entity is explicit. Both are intransitive: -iĝ- makes the affected environment the subject, never an accusative object.
Compare the causative:
La suno varmigis la sudan muron, kaj la muro varmigis la ĉambron.
The sun warmed the south wall, and the wall warmed the room.
Each varmigis clause names a causer as subject and the warmed entity as object. This valency contrast matters in environmental reporting as much as in everyday action.
Subjectful weather and environmental clauses
Not every weather sentence is impersonal. When a concrete entity is foregrounded, it becomes an ordinary subject.
La vento blovas de la nordo, kaj densaj nuboj kovras la montojn.
The wind is blowing from the north, and dense clouds cover the mountains.
La temperaturo falis je dek gradoj dum la nokto.
The temperature fell by ten degrees during the night.
Post la pluvego la rivero rapide altiĝis kaj inundis plurajn kampojn.
After the downpour, the river rose quickly and flooded several fields.
Here vento, nuboj, temperaturo, and rivero are real subjects. Esperanto does not prefer subjectlessness for its own sake; it uses whichever clause architecture matches what the speaker is tracking.
Environmental change often combines subjectful intransitive and transitive verbs:
La fumo disvastiĝis super la valo kaj poluis la aeron dum pluraj horoj.
The smoke spread over the valley and polluted the air for several hours.
Disvastiĝis has the moving smoke as its subject and no object. Poluis has the same subject but takes la aeron as its affected object.
When a weather verb gains a subject
Normally pluvi is subjectless, but the thing falling can become a nominative subject when something descends in a rain-like shower.
Dum la eksplodo ŝtonoj pluvis sur la vojon.
During the explosion, stones rained down onto the road.
Post la anonco demandoj pluvis de ĉiuj flankoj.
After the announcement, questions poured in from all sides.
Ŝtonoj and demandoj are subjects, not objects, so they do not take accusative -n. This extended use is established and natural; it does not change pluvi into a transitive verb.
Forecast style and probability
Conversation often uses a direct question and simple verb:
Ĉu pluvos morgaŭ? — Eble matene, sed posttagmeze heliĝos.
Will it rain tomorrow? — Maybe in the morning, but it will brighten up in the afternoon.
Forecasts may package the same information more densely:
Posttagmeze atendeblas lokaj pluvoj kaj fortaj ventoj en la nordo.
Local rain and strong winds are expected in the north during the afternoon.
Atendeblas is common (formal) forecast language: the events are presented as expectable. Other useful frames are estas risko de hajlo, la temperaturo atingos dudek gradojn, and la vento plifortiĝos vespere. These do not replace everyday pluvos/neĝos; they add probability, measurement, or trend.
Common Mistakes
Adding dummy ĝi to a weather verb
❌ Ĝi neĝos morgaŭ.
Incorrect — ĝi cannot be a meaningless weather placeholder.
✅ Neĝos morgaŭ.
It will snow tomorrow.
Copying the English progressive with esti
❌ Estas pluvanta ekstere.
Incorrect — there is no noun subject for the adjective pluvanta, and simple pluvas expresses the ongoing event.
✅ Pluvas ekstere.
It is raining outside.
Marking the falling material as an object
❌ Dum la eksplodo pluvis ŝtonojn sur la vojon.
Incorrect — the stones are what rain down, so they are the subject.
✅ Dum la eksplodo pluvis ŝtonoj sur la vojon.
During the explosion, stones rained down onto the road.
Using an adjective for an ambient condition
❌ Hodiaŭ estas suna kaj varma.
Incorrect without a noun subject — the general weather descriptions must be adverbial.
✅ Hodiaŭ estas sune kaj varme.
Today it is sunny and warm.
Giving a falling temperature a causative verb
❌ La temperaturo faligis dum la nokto.
Incorrect — faligi means cause something else to fall and requires an object.
✅ La temperaturo falis dum la nokto.
The temperature fell during the night.
Key Takeaways
- Use subjectless pluvi, neĝi, hajli, ŝtormi, fulmi, tondri, venti, and frosti for weather events.
- Use esti + adverb for ambient conditions: estas varme, nebule, sune.
- Environmental -iĝ- verbs present a change undergone by the subject; -ig- verbs introduce a causer and an object.
- Concrete entities such as wind, clouds, temperature, rivers, and smoke form ordinary subjectful clauses.
- Simple Esperanto tenses express ongoing and completed weather without English-style progressive auxiliaries.
Related Topics
- Impersonal VerbsB1 — Build subjectless Esperanto clauses for weather, ambient conditions, necessity, and topics without inserting English dummy it or there.
- Valency-Changing DerivationB1 — Use -ig- and -iĝ- to add a causer, remove a causer, and build precise causative and change-of-state verbs in Esperanto.
- Weather ExpressionsB1 — Describe conditions, forecasts, temperature, and changing weather through Esperanto's subjectless verbs and adverbial patterns.
- A Weather ForecastA2 — Analyze a concise forecast using subjectless weather verbs, place correlatives, and future -os.
- Adverbs with VerbsA2 — Modify actions and states with manner, time, place, frequency, and degree adverbs without agreement.