Choosing an Activity Based on the Weather | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. ¿Hacemos algo bajo techo o al aire libre mañana?

   Should we do something indoors or outdoors tomorrow?

   ¿Hacemos

   shall we do

   algo

   something

   bajo techo

   indoors

   al aire libre

   outdoors

   mañana

   tomorrow

   More detail

   ¿Hacemos comes from hacer, “to do/make.” Its present-tense -emos form is first-person plural: literally “do we,” with the subject understood as nosotros/nosotras. In this question, the form proposes a shared activity: “Shall we do...?” The same form can also be an ordinary present-tense question in other contexts, so the proposal meaning comes from the question and the surrounding wording. Example: ¿Hacemos una pausa? — “Shall we take a break?” algo is an indefinite pronoun meaning “something.” It refers to an unspecified thing or activity; here, the activity is left open rather than identified. Example: Quiero hacer algo tranquilo. — “I want to do something relaxing.” bajo techo is a reusable expression for being indoors, literally “under a roof.” Bajo here is the preposition “under,” and techo is the noun “roof.” Example: Comemos bajo techo si llueve. — “We eat indoors if it rains.” al aire libre is the expression “outdoors” or “in the open air.” Al is the contraction of a + el; aire means “air” and libre means “free/open.” Treat the whole expression as the natural location phrase rather than translating each word mechanically. Example: Prefiero leer al aire libre. — “I prefer to read outdoors.” mañana means “tomorrow” in this utterance. Spanish also uses mañana for “morning” in other contexts, but the fixed translation identifies the time here as the following day. Example: Nos vemos mañana. — “See you tomorrow.” Together, ¿Hacemos algo asks about doing an unspecified activity together. The alternatives bajo techo o al aire libre present two possible locations: indoors or outdoors. mañana places the proposed activity on the following day. The whole utterance therefore means: “Should we do something indoors or outdoors tomorrow?” It is a neutral, reusable way to propose choosing between two settings for a shared activity.

2. Mira el pronóstico antes de decidir.

   Check the forecast before we decide.

   Mira

   Check; look

   pronóstico

   forecast

   antes de

   before

   decidir

   decide

   More detail

   Mira is the affirmative command form of mirar for one tú listener. In this sentence, mirar means “to check” or “to look at,” and the command asks the listener to do that. Example: Mira el mapa. — “Look at the map.” pronóstico is a masculine noun meaning “forecast”; here it refers to the forecast being checked, with the surrounding context supporting a weather-related reading. Its plural is pronósticos. Example: El pronóstico cambia. — “The forecast changes.” antes de introduces something that happens earlier. Before a verb, it is followed by the infinitive: antes de decidir means “before deciding.” With a noun, the same pattern can mean “before [that noun or event].” decidir is the infinitive “to decide.” The infinitive after antes de does not itself specify the subject; the translation makes the intended subject of this decision “we.” Example: Debemos decidir antes de salir. — “We must decide before leaving.” Together, Mira el pronóstico gives the command “Check the forecast,” and antes de decidir adds the time condition “before we decide.” The complete meaning is: “Check the forecast before we decide.”

3. Dice que la mañana será soleada.

   It says the morning will be sunny.

   Dice

   says

   mañana

   morning

   será

   will be

   soleada

   sunny

   More detail

   Dice is the present-tense third-person singular form of decir (“to say”): decir → dice. Spanish often leaves the subject unstated, and here the fixed translation gives the intended meaning “it says.” Example: El informe dice la verdad. — “The report tells the truth.” mañana is the noun “morning” here. It is different from the adverb mañana, which can mean “tomorrow”; the surrounding article and the fixed translation support the noun meaning in this sentence. Example: La mañana empieza temprano. — “The morning starts early.” será is the third-person singular future form of ser (“to be”): ser → será. It expresses what something is expected or stated to be in the future. Example: La tarde será tranquila. — “The afternoon will be calm.” soleada is the feminine singular form of the adjective soleado (“sunny”). It agrees with the feminine singular noun mañana; the adjective itself, not the noun, carries this form. Compare un día soleado (“a sunny day”) and una mañana soleada (“a sunny morning”). The structure is Dice que ...: “It says that ...”. Inside the que-clause, la mañana is the subject, será states its future condition, and soleada describes that subject. Together, Dice que la mañana será soleada. means “It says the morning will be sunny.”

4. Entonces podríamos dar un paseo antes del almuerzo.

   Then we could take a walk before lunch.

   Entonces

   then

   podríamos

   we could

   dar un paseo

   take a walk

   antes del

   before the

   almuerzo

   lunch

   More detail

   Entonces means “then” here and links this possibility to what was just mentioned. It can also introduce a conclusion or result in other sentences. podríamos is the conditional form of poder for nosotros: “we could.” The conditional presents the walk as a possible or suggested action, not as a definite plan. Useful forms are podemos = “we can” and podríamos = “we could.” Example: Podríamos salir mañana. — “We could go out tomorrow.” dar un paseo is a common Spanish construction meaning “to take a walk.” Its lexical verb is dar, whose basic meaning is “to give,” but in this construction it means “to take/go for” a walk. Dar remains in the infinitive after the conjugated modal podríamos. Example: Quiero dar un paseo. — “I want to take a walk.” paseo is the noun “walk” or “stroll.” It is masculine, as shown by un; the noun itself is not an inflected verb form. The related verb pasear means “to go for a walk” or “to stroll,” but it is a different word and is not the form used in the fixed sentence. antes del means “before the.” del is the contraction of de + el; it is used before a masculine singular noun. With a feminine singular noun, Spanish uses antes de la, as in antes de la cena — “before dinner.” almuerzo means “lunch.” In this sentence it follows el, so it is treated as a masculine singular noun. The noun can also refer to the meal itself in other contexts; here it identifies the time or event that the walk precedes. Together, podríamos dar un paseo says “we could take a walk,” and antes del almuerzo places that possible walk before lunch. With Entonces, the complete utterance means: “Then we could take a walk before lunch.”

5. Si llueve más tarde, podemos ir a un café.

   If it rains later, we can visit a cafe.

   Si

   if

   llueve

   it rains

   más tarde

   later

   podemos

   we can

   ir

   go

   café

   café

   More detail

   Si introduces a condition: “if …”. It does not say that the condition is true; it sets up a possible situation. A reusable pattern is Si + present-tense clause, followed by the result: “If X, …”. llueve means “it rains” here. It is the third-person singular present form of llover (“to rain”). Spanish commonly uses this impersonal third-person form for weather: Llueve = “It is raining.” The subject is not a person named in the sentence. más tarde means “later” and places the possible rain after the current moment or another understood time. It is a time expression: más means “more” in many contexts, but here the complete expression más tarde means “later,” not “more late.” podemos means “we can” in this sentence. It is the first-person plural present form of poder (“to be able to, can”). poder commonly combines with an infinitive: podemos ir = “we can go.” The form identifies a “we” subject, while the sentence does not specify who is included in that group. ir is the infinitive “to go.” After podemos, it remains in the infinitive rather than being separately conjugated. The pattern podemos + infinitive expresses an ability or available option: Podemos esperar = “We can wait.” café is a noun meaning “café” or “coffee shop,” and in un café the intended meaning is a café as a place to visit. The written accent on the final é is part of the word. The phrase a un café uses a to mark the destination after ir; un is the indefinite article, not by itself a stated numeric count. The useful destination pattern is ir a + place: Vamos a un parque = “We are going to a park.” Together, Si llueve más tarde gives the condition “If it rains later.” podemos ir a un café gives the available option “we can go to a café.” The complete utterance is: “If it rains later, we can visit a café.”

6. Así tenemos un plan flexible.

   That keeps the plan flexible.

   Así

   in this way; thus

   tenemos

   we have

   plan

   plan

   flexible

   flexible

   More detail

   Así means “in this way” or “thus.” It links the current statement to a way of doing or arranging something. In this sentence, the fixed translation presents the result as keeping the plan flexible. Example: Así es más fácil. — “That way, it is easier.” tenemos is the present-tense first-person plural form of tener, “to have”: tenemos = “we have.” The ending identifies “we”; it is not the noun plan that carries this person marking. Example: Tenemos tiempo. — “We have time.” plan is a masculine singular noun meaning “plan.” Its plural is planes. The indefinite article in another sentence, such as un plan, would introduce a plan but would not by itself state a numerical count as a separate claim. Example: El plan funciona. — “The plan works.” flexible is a singular adjective meaning “flexible.” It describes plan here. For gender, the singular form is flexible with either a masculine or feminine singular noun; the plural is flexibles. Example: La fecha es flexible. — “The date is flexible.” Together, Así tenemos un plan flexible literally presents the idea “Thus, we have a flexible plan.” In the supplied translation, this is rendered as “That keeps the plan flexible.” Así supplies the “that way/thus” link, tenemos states “we have,” and un plan flexible names a flexible plan. The utterance is a straightforward, neutral statement.

7. Planeemos dar un paseo por la mañana.

   Let's plan on a morning walk.

   Planeemos

   let’s plan

   dar un paseo

   take a walk

   por la mañana

   in the morning

   More detail

   Planeemos means “let’s plan.” It is the first-person plural present subjunctive of planear, used here as a suggestion addressed to the speaker and at least one other person. Compare planeamos, which can mean “we plan” or “we planned” depending on context; planeemos presents the planning as a proposed action. dar un paseo is a reusable expression meaning “to take a walk.” Dar is the infinitive “to give,” but in this expression it combines with un paseo to describe going for a walk. The infinitive stays unchanged after expressions such as queremos dar un paseo (“we want to take a walk”). Paseo is a noun for a walk or stroll; it can also refer to a promenade or outing in other contexts. por la mañana places the activity in the morning. Por is used here for a time period, and la mañana means “the morning.” Compare por la tarde (“in the afternoon”) and por la noche (“at night/in the evening”) as parallel time expressions. Together, Planeemos dar un paseo por la mañana means “Let’s plan on a morning walk” or more literally, “Let’s plan to take a walk in the morning.” The suggestion is to arrange that walk; it does not itself state that the walk has already happened.

8. Podemos pasar a un lugar cerrado si cambia el tiempo.

   We can move indoors if the weather changes.

   Podemos

   we can

   pasar

   move

   lugar

   place

   cerrado

   closed

   si

   if

   cambia

   changes

   tiempo

   weather

   More detail

   Podemos is the first-person plural present form of poder (“to be able to/can”): podemos = “we can.” It expresses the ability or possibility of the speaker together with at least one other person. Example: Podemos esperar aquí. — “We can wait here.” pasar is the infinitive “to go in,” “to move,” or “to pass,” depending on context. After podemos, the infinitive names the action that is possible; it does not change for the subject. Here, pasar a means moving to or going into a place. Example: Podemos pasar a la sala. — “We can go into the room.” lugar is a masculine singular noun meaning “place.” The indefinite article un marks this as one unspecified place, without necessarily asserting a numerical count as the main point. Example: Buscamos un lugar tranquilo. — “We are looking for a quiet place.” cerrado is the masculine singular form of the adjective cerrado (“closed”). It agrees with the masculine singular noun lugar; the adjective is not derived from the noun. Its literal meaning here is “closed,” producing the context-based idea of an enclosed or indoor place. The feminine singular form is cerrada, as in una puerta cerrada — “a closed door.” si introduces a condition and means “if.” It is written without an accent in this conditional use. The pattern si + a clause presents the circumstance under which the main clause applies. Example: Salimos si mejora el tiempo. — “We will go out if the weather improves.” cambia is the third-person singular present indicative form of cambiar (“to change”). The subject here is el tiempo, so the verb is singular. In a condition introduced by si, the present form can describe a possible future change. Example: El plan cambia si llueve. — “The plan changes if it rains.” tiempo is a masculine singular noun. In this sentence it means “weather,” not “time”; the intended meaning is confirmed by the translation and by the condition about moving indoors. The phrase el tiempo commonly refers to the weather in this use. Example: El tiempo está frío. — “The weather is cold.” Together, Podemos pasar a un lugar cerrado means “We can move to an enclosed/indoor place.” The conditional clause si cambia el tiempo adds the condition “if the weather changes.” Thus the whole utterance means: “We can move indoors if the weather changes.”