Questions & Answers about Heute ist das Wetter schön.
German has flexible word order, but the finite verb must usually be in the second position in a main clause (V2 rule). Almost any one element can stand in the first position for emphasis.
- Heute ist das Wetter schön. – Emphasizes today (as opposed to some other day).
- Das Wetter ist heute schön. – Emphasizes the weather (as opposed to something else).
Both are correct. The choice is mostly about what you want to highlight. In spoken German, Heute ist das Wetter schön sounds like “Today, the weather is nice,” with a slight contrast to other days.
In German, every noun has a grammatical gender. Wetter is:
- neuter (das)
- singular (there is no common plural use in this meaning)
- a noun, so it is capitalized: Wetter
So you must say das Wetter, not die Wetter.
In this sentence, das Wetter is the subject of the verb ist, so it stands in the nominative case:
- das Wetter – nominative singular, neuter
In Heute ist das Wetter schön, the adjective schön is used as a predicate adjective (after a form of “to be”: sein).
- Predicate adjectives in German do not take any endings:
- Das Wetter ist schön. (not schöne)
- Die Stadt ist groß. (not große)
Adjective endings appear when the adjective directly modifies a noun (attributive position):
- das schöne Wetter – the nice weather
- ein schönes Wetter – a nice weather (rare in practice; normally: schönes Wetter without article)
So:
- After ist, you use schön (no ending).
- Before Wetter, you would use schönes or schöne depending on the article.
Yes, Das Wetter ist heute schön is completely correct.
Meaning-wise, both sentences are almost the same:
- Heute ist das Wetter schön. – Focus on today.
- Das Wetter ist heute schön. – Focus on the weather, adding heute as extra information.
In ordinary conversation, Das Wetter ist heute schön may even sound a bit more neutral and common. Both are natural; the difference is subtle and about emphasis, not grammar.
Yes, you can:
- Heute ist das Wetter schön. – literally: Today the weather is nice.
- Heute ist es schön. – literally: Today it is nice.
Heute ist es schön is more general and can refer not only to the weather but also to the overall feeling of the day (temperature, atmosphere, mood, etc.). Context usually tells you it’s about the weather, but it’s a bit vaguer than naming das Wetter.
So:
- If you want to explicitly mention the weather, use das Wetter.
- If it’s clear from context, Heute ist es schön is very natural and common.
German capitalizes:
- all nouns, e.g. das Wetter, der Tag, die Sonne
- and certain noun-like words (substantivated adjectives, etc.).
Heute is an adverb meaning today, not a noun, so it is not capitalized (unless it starts the sentence, like here—then it is capitalized simply because it is the first word).
Compare:
- Heute ist das Wetter schön. – heute = adverb, normal capitalization at sentence start.
- Das Wetter – Wetter is a noun, so it always has a capital W, no matter where it appears.
Das Wetter is in the nominative case.
German uses the nominative for the subject of the sentence. The verb ist (is) is a linking verb (a form of sein “to be”), which links the subject to a description:
- Heute (adverbial time phrase)
- ist (verb)
- das Wetter (subject, nominative)
- schön (predicate adjective describing the subject)
Because das Wetter is the thing that is nice, it’s the subject, so it must be nominative: das Wetter, not dem Wetter or des Wetters.
Das Wetter ist schön heute is grammatically possible, but it often sounds a bit marked or unusual in standard German.
More natural orders are:
- Das Wetter ist heute schön.
- Heute ist das Wetter schön.
Putting heute at the very end is usually done for special emphasis or in a particular speaking style. In everyday neutral speech, Germans tend to place time elements like heute toward the beginning or just after the verb, not at the very end.
Pronunciation of Wetter:
- W = like English v in very (not like English w in water).
- IPA: /ˈvɛtɐ/
- e = short e, like in bed.
- tt = a short, crisp t sound (not aspirated as strongly as in English t).
- Final -er in many accents sounds like a schwa plus a light r or just a schwa:
- somewhere between “VEH-tuh” and “VEH-tah”, depending on region.
So Wetter sounds roughly like “VEH-tuh/VEH-tah”, not like English wetter with a w-sound.
In the context of das Wetter, schön usually means:
- nice, pleasant, good (weather you enjoy being outside in)
While schön can mean beautiful in other contexts:
- eine schöne Stadt – a beautiful city
- ein schöner Tag – a lovely/beautiful day
With Wetter, English speakers most often translate it as “nice (weather)” or “good (weather)” rather than strictly “beautiful weather.”