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En el norte hace mal tiempo.

En el norte hace mal tiempo.
The weather is bad in the north.
From Lesson 60:What's the weather like? (hace sol, nieva)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about En el norte hace mal tiempo.

Why does this sentence use hace (makes/does) instead of a word for is?
In Spanish, many common weather expressions use the verb hacer (to do/make) rather than ser or estar (to be). So literally, this sentence translates to: In the north, it makes bad weather.
Why is the word for bad written as mal instead of malo?
The standard Spanish word for bad is malo. However, when it comes directly before a masculine singular noun like tiempo, it drops the final -o. This is why we say mal tiempo.
I thought tiempo meant time. Does it also mean weather?
Yes! The noun tiempo translates to both time (like having free time) and weather. You can always tell which one it means from the context. Hace mal tiempo is the standard phrase for saying the weather is bad.
Why isn't there a word for it before hace?
Unlike English, Spanish doesn't use a word for it as a subject. The verb form hace stands completely on its own to mean it makes or it does.

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