Rain is a fact of life! We can’t fight it.
English speakers talk about the weather a lot! It’s a common topic of small talk*. You will have a lot of short English conversations about the weather in an English-speaking country!
(*Small talk is an informal, polite but friendly conversation about something that is ordinary and not important. It’s the kind of conversation you have with the cashier at the grocery store or gas station.)
You don’t have to guess how to talk about rain. There are common phrases and sentences that you can use. We can’t predict what everyone is going to say in a conversation, but it helps to be prepared!
1. “What’s it like outside? Is it raining?”
You can ask this question when you want to know what’s happening outside. Someone might also ask you this question!
Here are some more questions you might hear:
What’s the weather like?
How is it outside? Is it raining?
Is it still raining out?
NOT: “How is the weather like?”
Out is sometimes used as a shortened form of outside.
It
When you talk about weather in English, use it.
Memorize: “It’s 16 degrees today“. (NOT: “We have 16 degrees.” or “There are 16 degrees.”)
It is an empty subject in this context. It has no meaning and it doesn’t take the place of another word.
Note: In Canada we measure temperature in Celsius. In the US, temperature is measured in Fahrenheit.
2. “It’s raining.”
Sometimes in English you don’t need fancy, complex sentences. Simple sentences are just fine. The most common thing to say about rain in English is, “It’s raining.”
There are different synonyms you can use depending on whether it is light rain or heavy rain.
“It’s spitting.”
Spitting is very light rain, rain that you can barely feel.
“It’s just spitting a little.”
“It’s drizzling.”
Drizzling is more than spitting, less than raining.
“It’s been raining on and off all day.”
On and off means starting & stopping, then starting again over a period of time.
“It’s pouring.”
Pouring is very heavy rain.
“It is pouring rain outside!”
When I was a kid, we used to sing a cute song:
“It’s raining, it’s pouring, the old man is snoring!”
3. “It’s really coming down out there!”
Use this sentence to describe very heavy rain.
Rain falls from the clouds. Though we don’t say, “rain is falling,” English speakers understand that this is the movement of rain. In this context, the phrasal verb come down means fall from the sky in very large amounts.
Don’t say “The rain is really falling down.”
Don’t say “it’s raining cats and dogs,” either. You might hear this in movies and TV shows, and parents sometimes say it to their children, but generally people don’t say “it’s raining cats and dogs.”
4. “Take your umbrella. It looks like it’s going to rain.”
Sometimes you look at the clouds in the sky and know that it’s going to rain.
Note: Don’t say “It will rain.” When you are predicting the weather, use be going to.
There are many ways to protect yourself from getting wet in the rain. You can hold an umbrella over your head. You can wear a raincoat or other kind of waterproof jacket. You can wear rain boots or other kind of waterproof footwear.
5. “I’ve had enough of all this rain!”
Sometimes rain is nice. I like the sound of rain hitting the roof of my house when I’m lying in bed at night. However, too much rain is not nice!
When you are bored, annoyed, or angry with something or someone, use the expression “I’ve had enough of … “ It means that you just don’t want to experience it anymore.
Alternative sentences:
It’s been raining non-stop for 3 days!
It’s been raining for 3 days straight!
The present perfect is used here because the rain started in the past and continues in the present, and it will probably continue tomorrow!
The phrase “for < time period > straight” is used to express that something hasn’t stopped or didn’t stop during that time period. It means the same thing as “three days in a row.”
6. “We got caught in a downpour.”
A downpour is a sudden, unexpected, heavy rain, or a lot of rain in a short period of time.
The phrase get caught in (something) means become unexpectedly affected by or involved in something. You weren’t expecting rain, and you weren’t expecting that it would start raining while you were walking or driving to a destination.
You can also use be caught in (something):
“We were caught in a downpour.”
“We were caught in a storm.“
A storm is a combination of rain, wind, and sometimes thunder & lightning.
7. “Let’s stay inside until the rain lets up.”
The phrasal verb let up means stop completely, or at least become slower. Say this sentence when want to wait until the rain stops.
Let’s (with an apostrophe) is a contraction of let us.
8. “I got soaking wet.”
Sometimes in life you can’t escape the rain. Sometimes it starts raining on the day when you forgot your umbrella at home. When you are in the rain, you get wet.
wet
Wet is an adjective that you can use to describe both the weather and water. If the weather is wet, it’s raining.
My clothes are wet from the rain.
November is a miserable month. It’s cold and dark and wet.
It’s going to be a cold, wet morning.
It’s going to be a wet one tomorrow!
It’s going to be a wet and windy day.
soaking
Soaking is a synonym of wet. You use soaking by itself or before wet. Use soaked by itself. They both mean very, very wet.
I went out for a bike ride and got soaking wet in the rain.
I got soaking wet while I was walking home in the rain.
My clothes are soaking! We were out in the rain for hours.
It was an outdoor concert. I got soaked in the rain, but it was worth it!
I am soaked to the bone.
9. “The forecast calls for scattered showers.”
A weather forecast is something you see on TV, hear on the radio, or read in the newspaper. A meteorologist (a person who studies the weather) tells people what the weather will be like. A forecast is a meteorologist’s prediction about the weather.
The vocabulary used in weather forecasts is different from the vocabulary used in everyday conversations when you talk about the weather.
When you are talking about the weather forecast, use the phrasal verb call for (something). It means say that this kind of weather will probably happen.
In the context of rain, a shower is a short period of rain in a small area.
Scattered means spread over a wide area. Scattered showers are periods of light rain happening in a few places, not just in one place. There might be a quick shower in the southern part of the city, then a quick shower in the northern part of the city.
We have a saying in Canada & the US: “April showers bring May flowers.” Tt rains a lot in April, but the water will help the flowers grow!
Precipitation is a formal word for rain and is sometimes used in weather forecasts.
Melanie, in Mexico we say “llueve un ligero chipi chipi” when you say It´s Spitting.
“Chipi chipi” sounds really cute!
I’m going to remember this phrase so I can use it if I go to Mexico again! :)
yes and we say it ‘tip tip brishti’ in Bengali …… that means spitting rain :D :D
Melanie, sentences to refer to wheather, are very useful in everyday life. Thanks for your teachings.
In Colombia, we say when it’s raining heavy:
“It’s raining jugs” or “It’s raining so cute girlfriends and rich husbands”
That’s awesome, Oscar! “It’s raining so cute girlfriends and rich husbands” – I love it!
Quick tip: It’s probably just a typo, but be careful with your spelling of “weather.” There’s no H. You may be think of the conjunction “whether.” :)
Hi Teacher
Really you helped me a lot .But lam gread
To ask you another .Please help in the pronunciation of difficult adverbs and adjectives ending with suffices like -able
-bile
With great respect
Hi, Azhari!
1. The -able at the end of words like adorable, acceptable, countable & incapable is pronounced /əbəl/. Use this dictionary to look up words. When you click on the red speaker icon, you can hear someone say the word.
2. Do you means words like automobile, or mobile? Here you need to memorize the pronunciation of each word because the -bile at the end of these words is pronounced differently:
automobile /ˌɑːtəmoʊˈbiːl/
mobile /ˈmoʊbəl/ or /ˈmoʊˌbajəl/
(The links for each word go to a dictionary where you can hear someone say the words.)
Have a great weekend,
Melanie
Hi Melanie,
It’s great!
Thanks Muhammad!
Haha “it is raining cats and dogs” is one of the first idiom I learned ^^ But I’ve never heard anyone say it.
Anyway, thanks for this article it is very useful, here we say ” il pleut des cordes ” or ” il pleut comme une vache qui pisse ” when it’s pouring.
I studied French for 10 years in school, and I don’t think I ever learned those sentences! So thank you for teaching me some French!
However, I can’t imagine any of my teachers saying “une vache qui pisse” :) :) :) That’s hilarious!
“It’s raining cats and dogs” is almost always a lead-in to a bad pun, “Be careful of the poodles.” (Heavy rain creates “puddles”.)
In catalan We say “plou a bots i barrals” when We want to say : It’s pouring.
Catalan is a fascinating language! I have been to Barcelona many times, but I didn’t learn any Catalan. I should have!
Hi Teacher Melanie
You give big big big hand to us to improve our english knowledge.thanx lot. In Sri lanka we say ‘ mora suurana wassa ‘ when it’s pouring.
It’s my pleasure, Isuru! And thank you for teaching me your language! Is that Sinhala or Tamil?
It’s sinhala
Hi dear Melanie,
Really you give me many useful hints.
Melanie, in Persian we say “nam name barun” when you say It´s Spitting. /næm/ /næme/ /bɑːruːn/
Thank you for teaching me Persian! I am so impressed that you were able to transcribe Persian into IPA! That’s awesome!
Russian speaking people say “it’s pouring like from bucket” about very heavy rain. There are no more other expressions.
Sometimes it does feel like rain is pouring from buckets! That’s a great expression!
Thank you, Melanie! For teaching us these useful phrases..
Well, I use “It’s raining heavily.”
But now, I’ll use all these phrases..
Hello Melanie! :))
Nice to meet you and always thank to send these kind of useful expressions!
There’re so many things I’ve never think of before.
Thank you so much !
Always welcome any kinds of critics in my sentence. (like grammar error)
Is it okay to use “in” before “my sentence”?
if there are other better option, please tell me. Thank you :)
Hello Melanie! :))
Nice to meet you and always thank to send these kind of useful expressions!
There’re so many things I’ve never think of before.
God bless you and wish you great day all the time .
Thank you so much .
Hi Melanie!
Thank you,for teaching us these useful phrases.
Be as clear rain.
Regards
Behzad
Hello Melanie , thanks for the useful English phrases , and just one question; at the phrase ‘” is it still raining out ? ” I would like to clarify one doubt , raining out it is pleonasm or not . I appreciate it.
Hi, Antonio!
I had to google “pleonasm” because I had never heard that word before.
The sentence “Is it still raining out?” is a common sentence that native speakers say. It probably is a pleonasm, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong. It’s just the way people speak. Sometimes, we do use too many words!
Also, a quick tip: ” … and I have a question about the phrase “Is it still raining out?” You have a question about something!
Thank you for the answer and for the quick tip.
Great lesson!
In Brazil, some people might say “Está chovendo canivete!” when it’s pouring. “Canivete” means pocketknife. However, I should say this expression is similar to It’s raining cats and dogs. It isn’t so popular.
Thank you.
In Turkish,when we soak wet,we say”sırılsıklam oldum”.
thank you melanie so mush it was so helpful for me !
Hi Melanie, thanks for this article, it was really useful for me.
Here in Brazil, when it is raining a lot, we often say:
“Está caindo um pé d’água lá fora”..
It is a nice lesson.I really thank you.
T
in France we have some expressions to talk about rain. one of them is
“Il pleut à ne pas mettre un chat dehors”
Thanks so much for these helpful and interesting lessons.
Thank you for your useful lesson.
I live in Thailand.
In Thailand, we say ” phon tok mai leum hoo leum ta” ( = it’s raining very very hard.)
Phon = rain
Tok = fall
Mai leum hoo leum ta = dont care about anything or about what happening or about what other people is talk of or about any warnings
Again, kob koon mak mak. ( = Thank you very much in Thai) 😊😊😊
Thank you for your Thai lessons, Nui! I would like to visit Thailand someday, so I will remember these sentences! :)