Small talk phrases in English | Small talk about the weather

Hi there, this is teacher Harry back  again with another lesson. Hopefully,  

you've enjoyed the previous lessons. And today  we're going to look at some small talk issues.

So we're going to look at talking about the  weather because it's an ideal, and a really good  

topic for small talk, particularly with British  and indeed, Irish people, when they are living in  

islands that are surrounded by water, the  weather is a really, really important topic,  

it's the centre of attention every day you wake  up, you have to check outside the window to see  

what is happening because you want to know  what to wear. So it's not like living on the  

continent when you know, it's going to be sunny,  or you know, it's going to be wet. So we have to  

check it all the time. So as I said, it makes an  ideal small talk conversation piece. So what I'm  

going to try and do for you is to give you  some situations that you will find useful,  

and then give you an explanation as to what those  weather conditions mean. So that you will be able  

to join in those sort of conversations at  ease. Okay, so let's work on with this.

So first of all, I'm going to give you  

four situations where which will be questions  you can ask about weather conditions.

So for example,

what's it like outside?

What's the weather like?

What's the weather forecast?

How's it looking outside?

These are just the questions that  people would normally ask their  

partner or somebody in the house or  in the office when they get up first,  

or they haven't been out. So what  sort of answers will we give? What?

What's it like outside work?  Well, it looks like it always does  

wet and dull, or wet and rainy, okay?

Or what's it like inside? Actually, it's not  so bad today, the sun is shining. So, you know,  

give you an indication that you can go out,  perhaps without the heavy coat or a light jacket?

What's the weather like? Well, the response  to that would be what, what do you think?  

Can you hear the rain? It's hitting off the  roof of the house? So it's a bit obvious?

Or what's the weather like?

It looks the same as it's been for the  last few days, it looks a little bit  

settled there. So perhaps  it's not so bad. After all.

What's the weather forecast? So  this means, you know, have you heard  

or have you read? Or have you  seen? What are they forecasting?

Well, it's the forecast is today for rain about  

midday or wind or sunshine or whatever  you've heard, but you know, yourself,  

you can't believe that the weather  forecast, they always get it wrong.

So that, again, is a very typical reaction we'd  get so if somebody says, Have you heard the  

weather forecast, but I don't bother listening  to that, because it's always wrong. So again,  

another reaction that you typically hear  in the conversations in Ireland and the UK.

And then as I said, How does it look means  well, when you pull back the curtains or you  

lift the blind, or you look out of the  window, is it How does it look? Meaning  

what's the weather like. Where the wind is  blowing, it looks a little bit cold to me. So  

I think you need to put your jacket on or  it looks a little bit wet To me, it could be  

a day for the umbrella or if it's really raining  and really heavy. You could I think it's a day for

the wellies and the wellies or the Wellington  boots, the rubber shoes that we have to put on to  

protect our feet from getting very  very wet and in our wet conditions.

Okay, so it could be a day for the umbrella or it  could be a day for the brolly abroad is another  

word we use in English. So the umbrella  is what we put up to protect ourselves  

from the rain and the brolly is exactly the same.

And in England, we have these little  folding brollies that you can put  

inside a pocket in your jacket. Or  a woman can put it into a handbag.

Or the old fashioned umbrella that you can hang  down with that wooden handle from your arm,  

You're walking down the street with your  umbrella. So it's a day for the brolly day  

for the umbrella. Or if it's really bad, as I  said, a day for the wellies, or what we call the  

Wellington boots, the rubber boots that  we wear to protect our shoes and our feet.  

So those are the typical questions that  you might ask or somebody might ask you  

when they're looking to find out  what the weather conditions are.

So let's look in more detail of what some  of those weather conditions, in fact,  

really are. So we talked  about rain first, because,  

indeed here in the UK and Ireland, the rain falls  quite a lot. So different ways of describing rain.

It's lashing.

It's drizzling.

It's spitting.

It's pouring down, or there's a downpour  case or different ways of describing rain.

So when we say it's lashing, it means  the rain is really heavy and it could be  

rain driven by the wind so the umbrella is  completely useless because the wind will  

drive the rain under the umbrella and you're  going to get wet anyway and if it's a windy day,  

push the umbrella is just going to turn inside out  or disappear completely so lashing really heavy  

rain and usually, before you even look outside the  window, you can hear it against the window pane  

shore on the roof of the house or  wherever you happen to be living.

It's drizzling is slightly better drizzling  means it's the rain is falling but it's not  

so heavy and but you're still going to  get wet but perhaps the umbrella then  

will protect you or a hat or a raincoat. So  drizzling is light rain that still falling  

quite continuously, but not so bad.  And something you can get used to.

When you say it's spitting rain  Well, when we spit with like this,  

okay, but so this gives you an indication when  it's spitting rain, it's not continuous. Okay,  

so maybe it's the beginning of a rain shower,  or they're just some light clouds around and  

occasionally some rain begins to fall so  well it's spitting rain usually means it's  

beginning to rain and perhaps Yes, it would be  a good idea to bring that umbrella or to bring  

the rain cord even if you don't have to wear  it. You might carry it for some protection.

pouring down and downpour while these bolts  suggest that the rain is really really heavy,  

so you look outside the window hot, it's pouring  down with rain or it's just pouring down in  

the rain is coming down really heavily on the  windows in the puddles on the street outside,  

whatever it might be. It's pouring down like  taking a glass of a toothpick, my glass of water  

and I pour it out pouring downs the the the action  that you get, or if it's a downpour means it's a  

sudden heavy fall of rain like a tropical  cloudburst and a downpour means it happens for  

quite a long period of time. But then it stops.  So there's a downpour. And then yet you can go  

out as we used to say run between the rain  clouds and it stops and you can run to the  

shops and come back before. Hopefully there's  another downpour and you get very very wet.

Okay, so we've looked at  rain. Now let's look at wind.  

Well, when we talk about wind there  are lots of ways we can describe it.

The wind can be blustery.

The wind can be a gale force wind or a hurricane.

It can be a breeze, a gentle breeze or

a gust and we often use with a sudden  gust is let me explain those to you.

So when we talk about the wind being  blustery, we're not quite sure which direction  

the wind is coming from. Often we can say  all the wind is coming from the west or  

the wind is coming from the north or the  wind is coming from the south. So we know  

its direction. But when it's blustery,  it's blowing around from east or west and  

when we're not quite sure. So yeah, it's  hard to know which way to walk or indeed,  

it can be hard to know what to wear because of  its blustery doesn't necessarily mean it's cold.  

If it's wind from the north and you need a  warm jacket, if it's wind from the south,  

you might need a lighter jacket when is blustery.  You're not quite sure what you need. If it's  

gale-force or hurricane while you know then that  the wind is really really strong. And so no matter  

which direction it's coming from, it's going to  be very, very strong, it's going to be hard for  

you to hold an umbrella because it will certainly  be blown away or turned inside out and damaged.

And if it's gale force, you got to hold your  jacket around just so that the wind doesn't  

whip it off and get you to be feeling cold. Okay,  so gale-force winds head down and you're marching  

into the wind to protect yourself. So those really  strong winds that you see from pictures of America  

where there are lots of hurricanes around this  time of the year. So gale-force means blowing  

very, very heavily so it could be 60, 70, 80  kilometres an hour or even higher and stronger.

And we talk about a breeze we often use a gentle  breeze and the word gentle means light in case our  

light breeze or a gentle breeze so yet the trees  are moving a little bit the bushes are blowing,  

but it's going to be a pleasant day. Yeah, yes, we  can go out for a walk. It's just a gentle breeze.  

It will keep us cool in that hot sun. So sometimes  that gentle light breeze accompanies a warm  

sunny day so you get the feeling of warmth and  sun but you don't get burnt or you don't feel too  

hot because there's a gentle breeze and you can  feel the wind in your face. It's not so strong.

And then gusts. Gusts are sudden bursts of wind  so they don't it's not continuous or a gust so

if you leave the door open or the  wind or open a gust of wind will come  

through the house and the door will bang  on. Yeah, okay, so somebody has shot close  

the window there's a gust so the gust of  wind or if you're looking out the window

and suddenly the wind blows and all the leaves  on the ground, blow up or that papers that may be  

underground swirl around a little bit. That can be  because of a gust of wind. So you can be walking  

along quite pleasantly, and there's a sudden gust  of wind that might be a little bit uncomfortable.

or indeed, if you're on a bike, and you're  cycling along nicely, and then suddenly there's  

a gust of wind in your bike wobbles a little  bit or makes it a little bit difficult for you  

to get up that particular hill or  incline. So that can be a gust.

So hopefully then we can talk about hot weather.  Yeah. And hot weather is that those wonderful days  

of the summer when the sun is shining? So what are  the different ways in which we can describe it?

Well, we can simply say it's hot. But  often we use words like it's boiling hot.

Or it's scorching, or scorching hot, or we're  having a heatwave. So when it's boiling hot,

it's a bit like water boiling and the pan on the  oven bubble, bubble bubble. Yeah. So boiling hot,  

you go inside, and within a few minutes, you're  sweating or the perspiration is running down  

your face, or you feel your clothes a little bit  uncomfortable, particularly if you do any form of  

exercise or walk or indeed a run. So it's boiling  hot today, the temperature is over 30 degrees,  

you know, you're looking for air or you're  looking for something soft and cold to drink.

scorching is another form of boiling.  It's just another way to describe it.  

to scorch something means to burn it very badly.

So a fire, if there's a forest fire, for example,  the earth and the ground can be scorched.  

And you'll see the black marks of where  there was a forest fire. So when we  

refer to something as scorching hot, we mean,  it's almost like burning. Scorching hot.

Like when you walk on hot sand at the beach,  and you take your shoes off to go down to the  

water's edge and you're on. The  stand is scorching, it's been  

under the direct sunlight for a couple  of hours. And when you get to the beach,  

it's not so comfortable. So you have to wear  those flip flops. Yep, so it's scorching hot.

And then as you said, we could be having  a heatwave and a heatwave is usually  

several days or could even be weeks where you've  got continuous hot sunshine without a break. So  

you know, here in Ireland, we often have a  heatwave for three or four days during the  

summer and it's very pleasant to have it sometimes  a little bit uncomfortable to sleep at nighttime,  

but you know, it's not going to last too long.  So we're in the middle of a heatwave or where  

there's a heatwave has just started and it's  expected to last for several days. So heatwave.

Okay, and finally we go back to Yes,  unfortunately, the cold weather,  

the cold weather of winter or early spring. So  different words and ways we can describe cold

we can talk about a cold  snap s-n-a-p. A cold snap.

Something can be bitterly cold, bitterly cold,

or just wintry.

Okay, so when we talk about a cold snap, it's  the opposite of that heatwave. Okay, so it's  

cold weather that comes and lasts for several  days. So you know, there's a cold snap expected  

next week. So it could be the first days of  winter and the last days of autumn when the  

temperature drops quite suddenly, and you might  have an overnight frost. And that will be followed  

by several days of zero temperatures  or even perhaps below zero, so that's a  

cold snap. So it's something that happens quite  suddenly. But it tends not to last so long.

But we can talk about bitterly  cold when there's a wind of  

the wind that comes from the north during the  winter is bitterly cold bitterly. It's like  

sitting in an icebox or sitting in the  freezer so it's bitterly cold. So we hear  

expressions of it's bitterly cold today I don't  know how anybody can walk in that. Or it's  

bitterly cold. It's too cold to go for my normal  run or do my workouts at home. Bitterly cold.

And then wintry is just a general word to  describe the conditions, how the conditions,  

wintery conditions that you know the roads tend  to have some ice, not every day there is frost,  

not every day, you know the leaves are covered  and a bit of frost. So these are the wintery  

conditions that we expect. The wind is cold rain  fears like ice when it falls all of the conditions  

that we expect to have in the winter. So we  refer to them generally as wintery conditions.

They were the conditions for drive, you know,  very wintry, so you have to be careful either  

you change your tires if you have to do those  winter tires, or you just take extra care and  

attention. When you're driving on the roads  in case you occasionally come across some ice  

or black ice that you just can't see until  it's too late. So when should conditions

Okay, so I've covered their situations. The words  that we use when we're asking about the weather,  

we've spoken about the rain we've spoken  about. When it's hot as a heatwave,  

we've spoken about the wind. And  then we spoke about when it's cold.

So now we're going to look at common  or simple errors that people make when  

talking about the weather. So let me take them  one at a time, and I'll explain them to you.

The most common mistake that people make when  they're learning English, and they're talking  

about the weather is they confuse nouns and  adjectives or even verbs when we've got the  

terms that we're talking about. So let's give  you the correct and the incorrect versions.

For example, How's the weather? Sorry, I ask the  question. How is the weather? It is snow. That's  

incorrect. It is snowy. Or it is snowing would  be the correct answer. So how's the weather? It  

is snowy adjective or it is snowing. Okay, but  not it is snow. Okay, because snow is the noun.

What's it like out? Or what's it like outside?  Again, this will be another question. What's it  

like out? Meaning when you go out? Or what's it  like outside? So simple question and the answers  

could be, it is rain. Incorrect. It is rainy. Or  it is raining. Again, the correct answer is it is  

rainy. As an adjective, it is raining as the  verb but not it is rain. Yeah. You can say  

there is rain falling out, but that's a little  bit too formal. So normally say it's rainy, or  

it is raining. Yeah. Okay, so just be very careful  to get the correct response. And you have to do  

that with all of those nouns and adjectives and  verbs. So it's the same if I asked you, you know,

How is the weather? Oh, it is sunny. S-u-n-n-y.  Not, it is sun. Or, you know, if I said you or  

the sun is shining, you don't say it is shiny?  Yeah. Because that would usually refer to light  

is very shiny, but the sun is shining. Yeah.  Okay, or there is sunshine. There's lots of  

sunshine. So be really, really careful how you  use those nouns and adjectives and verbs and  

not to fall into the trap of simple mistakes.  So is sunny is the adjective. The sun is shining  

is the verb, but it's not. It is shiny. Yeah,  because, as I said, that refers to the light  

for the car lights are very shiny, or the torch  or I don't like your lamp, it's very shiny. So  

the sun is shining, or it is  sunny, or the sun is very hot.

Okay, so just make sure you use the correct  terminology when you're talking about the  

weather. And it'll sound or make your small  talk sound much, much more professional,  

much, much more like a native speaker, and you'll  be able to join with those conversations with a  

lot of confidence. Okay. Okay, so that's the  small talk pieces in relation to the weather.  

As I said at the beginning of this particular  lesson, the weather is a very, very popular topic  

with those people living in Ireland and the UK  in particular, but also people on the continent,  

because if they don't know what to ask you, or  they don't know how to start a conversation,  

whether they want something as we call it, an  icebreaker. And that's usually about the weather,  

because it's, it's non-committal, it's not going  to upset anybody, but it gets somebody to ask a  

question and answer it to start the conversation.  So Oh, how's the weather today? Or what's the  

weather like in your country? Or how's the weather  where you are? Or what's it like outside or, you  

know, is it really wet. So lots and lots of ways  to get you involved in that conversation. And the  

best thing for you to do is to practice not to be  worried if you make a little bit mistake because  

when you're talking about rain, or sun, or wind or  hot or cold, it's hard to make too many mistakes,  

but just try and remember, as I set out in this,  the difference between the nouns, the adjectives,  

and the verbs, and then try and practice the  different ways in which you can talk about those  

nouns like the rain, or how you can talk about the  wind or how you can talk about the sun, or how you  

can talk about the things that you need, like your  wellies, or your brolly, or your umbrella or your  

raincoat or your rain hat or whatever it might be.  All of those words will add to your vocabulary and  

will help you sound much, much more professional  and is said to give you much more confidence.  

Okay, well, this is teacher Harry. And as always,  thanks for listening. And if you like this, and  

you want to help me to continue the lessons, well  try and support us and we'll join you again soon.