Breakdown of Hoy la temperatura es inferior a cero.
ser
to be
hoy
today
a
to
cero
zero
la temperatura
the temperature
inferior
lower, worse (than)
Questions & Answers about Hoy la temperatura es inferior a cero.
Why do we use es instead of está for today's temperature? I thought weather was temporary.
While weather changes, when you use the specific subject la temperatura, you are stating a factual, mathematical value. In Spanish, defining a mathematical value always takes ser. If you wanted to focus on the temporary state of the environment instead of the value itself, you would use estar, as in hoy estamos bajo cero (today we are below zero).
Why does this sentence use a instead of que after inferior?
Most comparatives use que (like in más que), but a specific group of Latin-based adjectives ending in -ior take the preposition a. This group includes inferior, superior (higher/upper), anterior (previous), and posterior (subsequent).
Could I just use bajo cero here instead of inferior a cero?
Why don't we use the verb hacer here, like we do in hace frío?
The verb hacer is used to express weather phenomena when describing the environment directly, like hace frío or hace sol. However, in this sentence, the subject is literally the specific word la temperatura. Because it is acting as a standard noun subject, it is simply linked to its value by the verb ser.
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