Weather without a subject: dežuje, oblačno je, toča pada
English talks about the weather in impersonal schemes — 'it's raining', 'it's cloudy' — and Slovenian meets you halfway with three ways of its own. Mixing them up stings, because the mistake sounds in the very first line of a weather chat, and in Slovenia that opens almost every meeting. For example: “Ves dan dežuje, zvečer bo pa sneg” — It rains all day, and in the evening there will be snow. A rule from the…
How it works
English talks about the weather in impersonal schemes — 'it's raining', 'it's cloudy' — and Slovenian meets you halfway with three ways of its own. Mixing them up stings, because the mistake sounds in the very first line of a weather chat, and in Slovenia that opens almost every meeting.
The first way — an impersonal verb. dežuje, sneži, grmi, toči, bliska se. There is no subject at all, the verb stands in the third singular, and in the past it takes the neuter: deževalo je, snežilo je. English 'it rained' hides a dummy 'it'; Slovenian needs no dummy.
The second way — an adverb plus je. oblačno je, sončno je, soparno je, mrzlo je, toplo je. That is where the three adverbs of this unit live. The word order is the mirror of English: the sign comes first and je second, because je is a clitic and cannot open the sentence. Je oblačno is possible only as a question.
The third way — a noun as the predicate. megla je, nevihta je, gneča je. Here the sentence does have a subject, and the verb agrees with it: megle so bile goste. English prefers 'it's foggy'; Slovenian likes naming the thing.
From this follows the rule of choice. If the phenomenon is happening — take the verb: dežuje. If it is a state of the air — an adverb with je: soparno je. If it is a thing you can see whole — a noun: mavrica je. The forecast speaks the future and usually picks the noun: jutri bo sonce, popoldne bodo nevihte.
Table
| way | scheme | example | the English echo |
|---|---|---|---|
| a verb | no subject | dežuje | it’s raining |
| a verb | no subject | grmi | thunder is rumbling |
| a verb in the past | the neuter | snežilo je | it snowed |
| an adverb + je | the sign goes first | oblačno je | it’s cloudy |
| an adverb + je | the sign goes first | soparno je | it’s muggy |
| a noun | agreement | megla je | there is fog |
| a noun | agreement | nevihta bo | there will be a storm |
By example
- Ves dan dežuje, zvečer bo pa snegIt rains all day, and in the evening there will be snow
- Pred nevihto je bilo zelo soparnoIt was very muggy before the storm
- Zjutraj je bila megla, potem se je zjasniloIn the morning there was fog, then it cleared up
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Weather without a subject: how does it work in Slovenian?
English talks about the weather in impersonal schemes — 'it's raining', 'it's cloudy' — and Slovenian meets you halfway with three ways of its own. Mixing them up stings, because the mistake sounds in the very first line of a weather chat, and in Slovenia that opens almost every meeting.
What does it look like in an example sentence Slovenian?
“Ves dan dežuje, zvečer bo pa sneg” — It rains all day, and in the evening there will be snow. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.