Le stagioni

Present tense for seasonal habits and season prepositions

In Italian, the present indicative is used to talk about seasonal habits. A key feature is the use of season prepositions.

Season prepositions

• in primavera — in spring
• d'estate — in summer
• in autunno — in autumn
• d'inverno — in winter

Important: *estate* and *inverno* take the preposition d' (contraction of *di*), while *primavera* and *autunno* take in.

Present tense for seasonal habits

Use the present indicative to describe what typically happens in each season:

• *In primavera i fiori cominciano a fiorire.* — In spring, the flowers begin to bloom.
• *D'estate fa molto caldo e andiamo al mare.* — In summer, it is very hot and we go to the sea.
• *In autunno le foglie cadono dagli alberi.* — In autumn, the leaves fall from the trees.
• *D'inverno nevica spesso in montagna.* — In winter, it often snows in the mountains.

Weather expressions

Weather verbs are always used in the third person singular:

• *Fa caldo.* — It is hot.
• *Fa freddo.* — It is cold.
• *Piove.* — It is raining.
• *Nevica.* — It is snowing.
• *Tira vento.* — It is windy.
• *C'è il sole.* — It is sunny.

Adjectives for weather

• *Il tempo è bello/brutto.* — The weather is nice/bad.
• *Il clima è mite in primavera.* — The climate is mild in spring.
• *I temporali estivi sono violenti.* — Summer storms are intense.

Esempio: "D'estate fa molto caldo in Italia. In primavera, invece, il tempo è perfetto per passeggiate." — "In summer it is very hot in Italy. In spring, however, the weather is perfect for walks."