Weather- hace/hay/está

Question

Sorry for yet another weather question but I looked through quite a number of old threads and still have this question.

I did lesson 1.14 yesterday and Paralee taught "hace nubes" and "hace niebla".

I previously had taught myself to use hacer with: sol, calor, frío, viento, statements including "tiempo", and possibly fresco (there seems to be some disagreement in whether "está" is preferable in that case).

I use "hay + noun" or "está + adjective" for anything else.

So I would have said "está nublado" and "hay niebla". I am not sure how I pick between "estar" and "hay" but that is how I would have done it.

I have seen the rule that "hacer" is for weather you feel, and "hay" for weather you see, but I see the sun and feel humidity, so I found that unhelpful. I did see one "hace humedad" in the old threads though.

Now that I have less confidence on the subject, my question is:

I actually need to be able to say "it is hot and humid" without sounding stupid.

Would I pick:

Hace calor y está húmedo. (My fist choice).

Hace calor y hay humedad.

Hace calor y humedad.

Está calurosa y húmedo. (I am fairly sure this is not right).

Or?.

I know I will be understood no matter what, but would really like to be able to say it the way a native speaker would.

Answer 1

"Hace calor y humedad" is what I'd say. "Hace calor y hay humedad (en el ambiente)" is just longer, and "Hace calor y está húmedo el ambiente/día" is far too long (it doesn't quite make sense unless you specify what is humid, eg. the day; it doesn't work like in English). "Está calurosa y húmedo" is a grammatical disaster.

Thanks, I was fairly sure that last one would be wrong. - Stadt, Oct 24, 2010

Answer 2

Update:

http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=466251

There are two Mexicans posting in this forum. One says that "hace humedad/viento" is used where he lives, and the other says that it isn't used where he lives (they live in different places). So there are more regional differences than what I anticipated.

In any case, "hace viento" can be found even in articles written by the RAE, so there are educated people who use it in some countries. I have found it tricky to find any trustworthy written reference containing "hace humedad", though. Most people in Spain seem to find the latter normal, but I've come across a few comments from Spaniards who did not use it (eg. cogumela). I guess saying "hay humedad" is the safest bet, because that one seems to be used everywhere.

"Hace viento" sounds right to me. "hace humedad" sounded to me odd at first sight. Now I'm thinking that probably the two ways are correct. - cogumela, Oct 24, 2010

"Hace humedad" is so-so to me. "Hay humedad" is better, although I prefer to add either 'bastante' or 'mucha', ie: "hay bastante humedad en el ambiente". In any case, "está húmedo" is a big no-no, it sounds like you are talking about sex. - bill1111, Oct 24, 2010

Thanks, I actually need to be able to say it in Playa del Carmen (Riviera Maya, Quintana Roo, México)- I'll stick with the safe option. - Stadt, Oct 24, 2010

Answer 3

Hace calor y humedad. No, because "hace humedad" is incorrect. It can "haber humedad", then "Hay humedad", but it can not "hacer humedad". Then "hacer" is not the appropiate verb for humedad.

There seem to be some regional differences in the use of "hace", because in some parts of Spain is normal. Here you can see a movie dubbed in Spain, and you can hear how they say "Hace humedad":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP7UCjOz3Xk

A similar thing happens with "Hace viento", which apparently sounds wrong in Argentina.

thanks - Stadt, Oct 24, 2010

It is clearly said, at about 2:03 of 2:07 in the clip. - Stadt, Oct 24, 2010

By the way, I believe cogumela lives inside of the national boundaries of Spain. - Stadt, Oct 24, 2010

Answer 4

Hi, Stadt!

Hace calor y está húmedo. Hace calor is right, but we don't use to say "está húmedo", without a subject. You can say, "Hace calor y el tiempo está húmedo", but if you don't say "el tiempo" here, the logical is that your partner reply .... ¿Está húmedo el qué?

Hace calor y hay humedad. This is the best choice!

Hace calor y humedad. No, because "hace humedad" is incorrect. It can "haber humedad", then "Hay humedad", but it can not "hacer humedad". Then "hacer" is not the appropiate verb for humedad.

Está caluroso y húmedo.. No, because "está caluroso" needs, as in the first example, the subject. You must say El tiempo está caluroso y húmedo.

Okay, this makes sense to me. Why is lazarus willing to use "hacer" with humedad when you won't. - Stadt, Oct 24, 2010

Please see my comment below. - lazarus1907, Oct 24, 2010

Answer 5

I've asked an Argentinian friend, and he says that in Argentina people don't say "Hace humedad" either. I've asked a few other people from Spain, and they all think it is a "normal" way to say it.

It is too bad that gekkosan's site: www.sopreproc.org, doesn't have weather. - Stadt, Oct 24, 2010