Temperature using estar

Question

Why is the verb estar used - Estamos a dos grados bajo cero. It is two degrees below zero.??

Hello, welcome to the forum! - rac1, Dec 18, 2012

good question - JazSpanish, Dec 18, 2012

Answer 1

Here "estamos" is used to include the person messuring the temperature (estamos=we are), because he or she also "feels" that temperature.

If you talk about the temperature of an object you use "estar" also (el congelador está a 10 grados bajo cero=the freezer is ten degrees below zero)

If you talk about the weather you should use "hacer" ("hacen dos grados bajo cero") o "haber" (Hay dos grados bajo cero)

"The temperature" is used with "ser" ("La temperatura es de 15°C")

Thank you Communache, I have always got a bit worried about these and had to avoid descriptions. Gracias. - annierats, Dec 18, 2012

Answer 2

In Spanish, when talking about the weather, one doesn't say "it is" but rather the equivalent of "it makes/does". We say (and think about weather in terms of) "it is hot/cold". But Spanish is "hace calor/frío". Same with degrees: one could say "hace 20 grados".

The other way of saying it then, is the equivalent of "we're at 2 degrees below zero"/"estamos a 2 grados bajo cero".

It's just thinking about the temperature in a different way than English speakers are used to it.