Spanish Unit 5 – Weather, Grammar, and Exam Guide

Weather Vocabulary & Core Expressions

• Fundamental weather verbs and phrases

• $Hace$ + noun (indicates a general meteorological condition expressed with a noun)
  • $Hace calor$ – “It’s (making) heat / It’s hot.”
  • $Hace frío$ – “It’s cold.”
  • $Hace viento$ → If you add intensity you MUST use "mucho": $Hace mucho viento$ – “It’s very windy.”

• $Está$ + gerund or adjective (specific, momentary conditions)
  • $Está lloviendo$ – “It is raining.”
  • $Está nevando$ – “It is snowing.”
  • $Está nublado$ – “It is cloudy.”

• Degrees / temperature questions
  • "¿Cuántos grados hay afuera?" – How many degrees is it outside?

• Intensity words and their grammatical limits

• $muy$ = “very,” only modifies adjectives & adverbs.
  • Correct: $Está muy cálido$.
  • Incorrect with nouns: $muy calor$ ❌

• $mucho/a/os/as$ = “a lot of / much / many,” only modifies nouns.
  • Correct: $Hace mucho calor$.
  • Correct: $Hay muchas nubes$.
  • Incorrect with adjectives: $está mucho frío$ ❌

• Combined descriptive options encouraged for the exam

• "Parcialmente soleado" / "Parcialmente nublado".

• Use 2–3 different weather phrases in answers to demonstrate range.

Seasons, Climate Change & Real-World Examples

• Four canonical seasons will appear in listening prompts.
• Fall ("otoño") and spring are portrayed as the most unstable seasons; teacher cites global-warming examples:

• October days in the upper $80$°F.

• Historical January highs of $84$°F in Annapolis.
  • Southern-hemisphere illustration: Province of Buenos Aires expecting snow despite normally temperate climate; true snow usually occurs farther south (Santa Cruz, Tierra del Fuego, National Park "Perito Moreno").

Grammar Focus 1 – “Muy” vs “Mucho”

• Rule set

• $muy$ ➜ adjectives/adverbs only.

• $mucho$ ➜ nouns only.
  • Weather tie-ins:

• "Está muy húmedo" ✔

• "Hace mucho sol" ✔

• "Está mucho lluvioso" ✘
  • Expect direct exam questions on which modifier is permissible with a given word class.

Grammar Focus 2 – “Ser” vs “Estar” (Doctor L & S.E.L.F.)

• Acronym DOCTOR L (uses $ser$)

• Description

• Occupation

• Characteristics / inherent traits

• Time & Date

• Origin / Nationality

• Relations (family, possession)

• Location of events (concerts, parties)
  • Acronym S.E.L.F. (uses $estar$)

• State / Condition (temporary, change from norm)

• Emotion / Feeling

• Location of people, objects, cities ("Baltimore está en Maryland")

• F is often reapplied as “Feelings” or “Frame of mind.”
  • Key reminders

• "Normal pattern" vs momentary change: "Luis es trabajador" (usual), but "Luis está perezoso hoy" (today only).

• Any physical location (no matter how big or small) triggers $estar$.

Grammar Focus 3 – Personal “a”

• Use $a$ before direct objects that are people (or pets treated as people).
• Teacher example: "Conozco a María."
• Acts as a clue in multiple-choice questions.

Grammar Focus 4 – Obligation, Desire & Future Plans

• Core verbs & structures (all appear in Marcelo listening passage)

• $tener ganas de + infinitivo$ → to feel like / be in the mood for.
  • "Tengo ganas de nadar."

• $tener que + infinitivo$ → obligation / necessity (consequence if not done).
  • "Tengo que estudiar."

• $deber + infinitivo$ → moral / strong obligation ("must").

• $ir a + infinitivo$ → immediate future plan.

• $pensar + infinitivo$ → intention / plan.
  • Listening-comprehension strategy

• Separate what Marcelo WANTS (wishes) from what he HAS to do (obligations).

• Teacher may invert order (first desire then duty, or vice-versa).

Unit 5 Exam Structure & Logistics

• Two Listening Passages

1. General weather report (~7 lines).

2. Marcelo’s obligations, preferences & needs (uses vocab above).
   • Four live dramatizations (teacher “mimicking”); repeated twice with a $5–7$-second pause between versions.
   • ~85 % of listening answers solvable by knowing the weather vocabulary list supplied in class.
   • Short-answer portion: Students should consciously vary weather expressions (e.g., "Hace calor" + "Está soleado").
   • Instructor may unexpectedly insert a future-tense question (e.g., "¿Qué vas a hacer esta noche?").

Culture Assessment Details

• Separate from Unit 5 test.
• Scenario: Conversation with a Colombian immigrant living in the U.S. covering family, career, etc.
• Format

• $10$ multiple-choice questions.

• Students receive question sheet ~2 minutes before audio begins.

• Assessment occurs at start of class; attendance mandatory, no make-ups.

Oral Presentations ("Orders")

• One student will present tomorrow (only oral, no visual aids or recordings).
• Rule: Recording another student’s presentation = automatic zero.
• Instructor may interject for spontaneous follow-ups to mimic real-life dialogue.

Practical Classroom / Study Advice

• Photograph board notes if needed.
• Keep all handouts—may recur on future assessments.
• Do NOT over-complicate rules (“Don’t look for the fifth leg of the cat”); trust acronyms.
• Expected numeric coverage: culture assessments already 60 % complete; two more remain (one tomorrow, one Monday).

Miscellaneous Examples, Humor & Side Comments (still test-relevant)

• Teacher’s global-warming anecdotes serve as examples of “instability” vocabulary.
• Political aside about U.S. elections—irrelevant to test content but appeared in transcript.
• Phrase “No visual aids, no cell phones” reiterates exam integrity rules.

Quick Reference Cheat-Sheet (Bring to Mind Before Exam)

• Intensity: $muy$ = adjectives/adverbs; $mucho$ = nouns.
• Weather core: $Hace + noun$ vs $Está + gerund/adjective$.
• Seasons (Spanish): primavera, verano, otoño, invierno.
• Ser (DOCTOR L) vs Estar (S.E.L.F.).
• Obligation verbs: $tener que$ / $deber$; Desire: $querer, tener ganas de$; Plans/Future: $ir a$ / $pensar$.
• Personal $a$ with people; never with places/things.
• Exam routine: live reading ×2, 5–7 s gap, mimic dialogues, multiple choice culture.
• Bring 2–3 diverse weather phrases for every answer asked about “¿Cómo está el clima?”.