Getting Ready for Rain | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Está lloviendo afuera.

   It is raining outside.

   Está lloviendo

   It is raining

   afuera

   outside

   More detail

   Está lloviendo means that rain is falling at this moment. It uses estar plus the gerund lloviendo to present an action as in progress: está is the third-person singular present form of estar, and lloviendo is the gerund of llover. With weather verbs such as llover, Spanish normally uses this singular form without naming a person or thing as the subject. The form does not identify a human actor. Example: Está nevando. — “It is snowing.” Here, está and the gerund nevando create the same ongoing-weather pattern. afuera means “outside” or “outdoors.” It is an adverb, so it does not change for gender or number and does not need to agree with a noun. In this sentence it specifies where the rain is occurring, rather than naming a separate participant. Together, Está lloviendo + afuera produces the complete meaning: “It is raining outside.”

2. Ponte las botas antes de salir.

   Wear your boots before you leave.

   Ponte

   Put on

   botas

   boots

   antes de

   before

   salir

   leave

   More detail

   Ponte is the affirmative tú command of poner with the reflexive pronoun te attached: pon + te. Here it means “put on,” with the person being addressed understood as the one who will wear the boots. The affirmative command for usted is póngase, not ponte. botas means “boots.” It is the feminine plural noun bota; the article las agrees with it in feminine plural. The phrase las botas therefore means “the boots,” while botas alone is the noun. antes de introduces something that happens earlier. Before a verb, it is followed by the infinitive: antes de + infinitive. For example, Lávate las manos antes de comer means “Wash your hands before eating.” salir is the infinitive “to leave” or “to go out.” In this sentence, it refers to leaving or going outside. The infinitive is used after antes de; a finite form would be used with a stated subject, as in antes de que salgas (“before you leave”). Together, Ponte las botas means “Put on your boots,” and antes de salir adds the time condition “before you leave.” The complete utterance is therefore: “Wear your boots before you leave.”

3. Hay charcos en el camino.

   There are puddles on the path.

   Hay

   there is/are

   charcos

   puddles

   en

   in/on

   camino

   path

   More detail

   Hay means that something exists or is present. In Spanish, the same form is used for both singular and plural: hay un charco = “there is a puddle” and hay charcos = “there are puddles.” It is the impersonal present form of haber in this use; it does not change to agree with the noun. charcos means “puddles” here. Its singular base form is charco; the plural adds -s: charco → charcos. The masculine article in the full phrase is el: el charco / los charcos. en is a preposition meaning “in” or “on,” depending on the relationship described. Here it introduces the location of the puddles: they are on the path. camino means “path” in this sentence. Its singular form is camino, and the full noun phrase is el camino (“the path”). In other contexts, camino can also refer to a road or way, but “path” is the intended sense here. Together, hay charcos states that puddles are present, and en el camino gives their location. The complete utterance means: “There are puddles on the path.”

4. Camina alrededor de ellos despacio.

   Step around them slowly.

   Camina

   Walk

   alrededor de

   around

   ellos

   them

   despacio

   slowly

   More detail

   Camina is the affirmative command form for tú singular: “walk.” The same spelling can also be a third-person singular present form in other contexts, but here the English imperative translation supports the command reading. Compare caminar “to walk,” camina “walk!” for tú, and caminad “walk!” for vosotros. Example: Camina con cuidado. — “Walk carefully.” alrededor de is a reusable prepositional construction meaning “around.” It introduces what someone moves around or positions themselves around. Example: Corre alrededor del parque. — “He/She runs around the park.” ellos is a third-person plural pronoun meaning “them” here. Its form is masculine plural; it can refer to a masculine plural group or to a mixed-gender group when Spanish uses this grammatical form. The supplied sentence and translation do not uniquely identify the pronoun’s specific referent, so the important reusable pattern is alrededor de ellos — “around them.” For a feminine plural referent, Spanish uses ellas: Camina alrededor de ellas. — “Walk around them.” despacio is an adverb meaning “slowly.” It describes how the walking happens and does not change for the person or number of the walker. Example: Habla despacio. — “Speak slowly.” Together, Camina gives the tú command, alrededor de ellos specifies the path in relation to a plural group or set of entities, and despacio specifies the manner. The whole utterance means “Step around them slowly.”

5. Mi bolso podría mojarse.

   My bag might get wet.

   Mi

   my

   bolso

   bag

   podría

   might; could

   mojarse

   get wet

   More detail

   Mi means “my” here. It is a possessive determiner placed before the noun. The singular form mi is used with a singular noun and does not change for masculine versus feminine; its plural form is mis. bolso means “bag,” specifically the bag identified as belonging to the speaker through mi. The noun is masculine singular, but that gender is shown by forms such as el bolso, not by mi. Example: Mi libro means “My book.” podría expresses possibility: “might” or “could.” It is the third-person singular conditional form of poder (“to be able to; can”). The conditional presents the event as possible rather than certain. Example: Podría llover means “It might rain.” mojarse means “to get wet.” It consists of the infinitive mojar (“to wet”) plus the reflexive clitic se. Here, se makes the bag the thing that becomes wet: the bag might get wet. This is different from mojarlo, “to wet it,” where an understood agent causes something else to become wet. Example: El papel puede mojarse means “The paper can get wet.” Together, Mi bolso identifies the speaker’s bag, podría marks the possibility, and mojarse describes the bag becoming wet. The complete meaning is “My bag might get wet.”

6. Guárdalo debajo de tu abrigo.

   Keep it under your coat.

   Guárdalo

   Keep it

   debajo de

   under

   abrigo

   coat

   More detail

   Guárdalo means “keep it” here. It is the affirmative command form of guardar for tú (one person addressed informally): guarda. The attached direct-object clitic lo refers to the thing being kept; the sentence does not identify that thing by gender or by name. When lo is attached to this command, Spanish writes guárdalo with an accent mark to preserve the original stress pattern. Example: Guárdalo aquí. — “Keep it here.” debajo de expresses a position lower than and vertically covered by a reference point: “under” or “below.” The preposition de links the location word to what follows. Example: La caja está debajo de la mesa. — “The box is under the table.” abrigo is the singular noun for “coat.” Its base form is abrigo; the plural is abrigos. In this sentence, tu means “your” and identifies the coat as belonging to the person addressed. Spanish combines de and the possessive noun phrase without changing the noun: debajo de tu abrigo — “under your coat.” Together, Guárdalo + debajo de tu abrigo gives the instruction “Keep it under your coat.” The command addresses one tú listener, tells that person to keep an unspecified item, and specifies the coat as the location.

7. También debería llevar un paraguas.

   I should take an umbrella too.

   También

   also; too

   debería

   should; ought to

   llevar

   to take; to carry

   paraguas

   umbrella

   More detail

   También means “also” or “too.” It adds this action to something already understood; it does not replace or exclude the other action. Example: También voy. — “I’m going too.” debería is the form of deber used here for “should” or “ought to.” In this sentence, the fixed translation identifies the subject as “I”; debería is the first-person singular form in this use. The same written form can also be third-person singular, so the form alone does not distinguish those persons. The conditional form softens the obligation into advice or a recommendation. Example: Deberías descansar. — “You should rest.” llevar is the infinitive “to take” or “to carry.” After debería, the following verb stays in the infinitive: debería llevar means “should take/carry.” Here, the intended action is taking an umbrella along. Example: Debería llevar agua. — “I should take water.” paraguas means “umbrella.” It is a noun whose singular and plural forms are written alike: un paraguas is “an umbrella,” while dos paraguas is “two umbrellas”; the article or another determiner shows the number. Here, un paraguas identifies one umbrella without making the noun itself change form. Together, También debería llevar un paraguas means “I should take an umbrella too.” También adds this recommendation, debería llevar expresses the speaker’s recommendation for their own action, and un paraguas is what the speaker should take. The sentence is a natural way to add carrying an umbrella to an existing plan or set of precautions.

8. Eso te ayudará a no mojarte.

   That will help keep you dry.

   Eso

   that

   ayudará

   will help

   mojarte

   get wet

   More detail

   Eso means “that” here and points to something already understood, such as a previously mentioned action or situation. This neuter demonstrative is commonly used for an idea, event, or situation rather than for a noun with grammatical masculine or feminine agreement. It is the grammatical subject of the sentence. ayudará comes from ayudar, “to help.” It is the simple future, third-person singular form: ayudaré = I will help, ayudarás = you will help, ayudará = he, she, it, or a singular formal “you” will help. Here it agrees with Eso. Spanish commonly uses ayudar a + infinitive for “help to do something”: Eso ayudará a descansar means “That will help [someone] rest.” mojarte consists of the infinitive mojar, “to wet,” plus the attached pronoun te, “you.” In this expression, te refers to the person being kept dry; it does not indicate the gender of that person. The form te is used for a singular second-person object with both informal tú and formal usted contexts. Because the pronoun is attached to an infinitive, mojar + te becomes mojarte. The pattern ayudar a no + infinitive means “help [someone] not do something.” Thus, a no mojarte means “not to get wet” or, more naturally here, “to keep you dry.” The no negates mojarte, not ayudará: the sentence says that the thing will help prevent wetness, not that it will fail to help. Together, Eso supplies the subject, ayudará expresses future help, and a no mojarte states the result that help is directed toward. The whole utterance means: “That will help keep you dry.”