If you’ve ever been to a foreign country, you probably found that the words used by locals can vary vastly from the ones you learnt in the classroom.
We need only look at all the nuances of the English language and the diversity of expressions / idioms specific to particular regions to understand the complexity of language.
Even the most commonplace experiences, like a rainy day, can be described in a number of different ways!
With that in mind, here’s a list of 10 different ways to say ‘rain’ in Spanish that are sure to clear those pesky dark clouds on even the stormiest of days!
Brollies at the ready, let’s get to it!
Lluvia – rain
‘Lluvia’ is the simplest, most “correct” way of saying ‘rain’ in Spanish. This should be your absolute go-to word when translating ‘rain’ no matter what Spanish-speaking country you’re in.
Its verb form is ‘llover’, or ‘to rain’ in English, and if you want to point out that ‘it’s raining’, you just need to say ‘está lloviendo’.
Me encanta el olor a tierra mojada después de una lluvia profusa.
I love the smell of wet soil after a heavy rain.
¡Ya está lloviendo! Creo que tendré que pasear a la perrita más tarde.
It’s already raining! I think I’ll have to walk the dog later.
Famosa canción mexicana de Pedro Infante
Parece que va llover, el cielo se está nublando, parece que va llover ¡ay¡ mamá me estoy mojando.
Famous Mexican song by Pedro Infante
It looks like it’s going to rain, the sky is getting cloudy, it looks like it’s going to rain, oh, mom, I’m getting wet.
Finally, to describe something ‘rainy’, you can use the adjective ‘lluvioso’ –
No hay nada como un buen chocolate caliente durante una tarde lluviosa.
There’s nothing quite like hot cocoa on a rainy afternoon.
Aguacero – downpour
If you’ve ever heard the phrase ‘está cayendo un aguacero’ (and if you’ve visited Mexico, chances are you have), you probably wondered exactly what an ‘aguacero’ is …
Well, if you must know, it´s a sudden and abundant burst of rain, kinda similar to a ‘downpour’.
En la oficina
Javier – ¡Está cayendo un aguacero! El tráfico se va a poner insufrible …
Lety – Tranquilo; se ve que va a pasar rápido.
At the office
Javier – It’s pouring! The traffic´s going to be unbearable …
Lety – Chill, it looks like it’s gonna be over quickly.
Chaparrón – downpour
There are a few synonyms of ‘aguacero’ in Spanish, and ‘chaparrón’ is one of them.
This one’s not to be confused with the word ‘chaparro’ which is used to describe a short person. Yeah, with some Spanish words you can be one letter and an acute accent away from making a big mistake …
Clara – ¿Cómo te fue el fin de semana?
Bruno – Más o menos … se soltó un chaparrón el domingo y ya no pudimos ir de picnic.
Clara – How was your weekend?
Bruno – Not so great … there was a downpour on Sunday, and we couldn’t go for the picnic.
Chubasco – squall (heavy rain and wind)
Add a strong wind to a ‘chaparrón’ or an ‘aguacero’ and you’ll get a ‘chubasco’, a term similar to a ‘squall of rain’ in English.
Gibrán – ¡Tardaron mucho en llegar! Estábamos preocupados por ustedes.
Tania – Nos cayó un fuerte chubasco en plena autopista; tuvimos que manejar con mucho cuidado.
Gibran – It took you a long time to get here! We were worried about you.
Tania – We got caught by heavy rain and wind on the highway; we had to drive very carefully.
Diluvio – deluge
If it’s raining extremely heavily, you can call it a ‘diluvio’, which is a synonym of the word ‘deluge’ in English.
And like a ‘deluge’, a ‘diluvio’ can refer to both a flood and a downpour of rain.
The only difference is that unlike the English word, the Spanish ‘diluvio’ also has a verb form, which is ‘diluviar’.
¡Cayó un diluvio en mi pueblo! Parecía que nunca dejaría de llover.
There was a deluge in my town! It seemed like it would never stop raining.
No vayas a salir sin un paraguas; está diluviando allá afuera.
Don’t go out without an umbrella; it’s pouring out there.
Llovedera – persistent rain
If it´s been raining for hours or even days on end, you might hear people from Mexico, El Salvador or Cuba use the word ‘llovedera’.
It basically means very persistent rain.
Omar – ¿A dónde vas a ir de vacaciones?
Federico – Me gustaría* irme a la playa, pero la llovedera sigue sin tregua en el Pacífico.
Omar – Where are you going on holiday?
Federico – I’d like to go to the beach, but it´s been raining nonstop on the Pacific coast.
Erika’s note – ‘me gustaría’ is a bit like saying ‘I’d like’; check out our article on ‘me gustaría’ and ‘quisiera’ if you’d like to find out more!
Llovizna – drizzle
Is it raining lightly? The word for ‘drizzle’ in Spanish is ‘llovizna’.
Después de la sequía, esperaba un aguacero, pero solo cayó una breve llovizna.
After the drought, I expected a downpour, but there was only a bit of drizzle.
Chipichipi – drizzle
If there´s drizzle in Mexico or Central America then you can also call it ‘chipichipi’, which is just a lovely onomatopoeia for raindrops hitting the ground.
To pronounce it, just say ‘chee’ as in ‘cheeky’, followed by the word ‘pea’, and repeat. It should sound something the likes of ‘chee-pee-chee-pee’.
Había un nubarrón que amenazaba de tormenta, pero al final, solo cayó puro chipichipi.
The dark cloud looked threatening, but in the end it only drizzled.
La furia de Tláloc – heavy rain
And now, a really fun Mexican expression for ‘rain’. I present (… drum roll …) ‘la furia de Tláloc’, which translates to ‘the fury of Tlaloc’.
And who is this Tlaloc, you wonder?
Well, he’s just one of the most fearsome and respected gods in the Mexica pantheon (the old religion in Central Mexico before the Spanish conquest), and the guy in charge of rain (amongst other things).
Tlaloc’s still pretty popular in Mexico City and the surrounding states, so much so that any sign of drought or a prolonged ‘llovedera’ is good enough reason to set off a deluge of memes either asking Tlaloc for the rain to come back, or for him to stop unleashing his fury upon the Mexican valley.
En una cafetería en la Ciudad de México
Fabiola – ¿Ya te vas?* ¡Todavía es temprano!
Carolina – Sí, me voy antes de que nos caiga la furia de Tláloc; ya sabes cómo se pone la ciudad con las lluvias.
At a coffee shop in Mexico City
Fabiola – Are you leaving already? It’s still early!
Carolina – Yes, I’m leaving before the fury of Tlaloc falls upon us; you know how the city gets when it rains.
*Erika’s top tip – ‘¿Ya te vas?’ translates to something along the lines of ‘Are you leaving already?’ and you can respond with a simple ‘sí, ya me voy’ if you are indeed leaving or with a ‘todavía no’ if you’re still planning to stay a while.
Se está cayendo el cielo / El cielo se está cayendo – heavy rain or hailstorm
‘Se está cayendo el cielo’ or ‘el cielo se está cayendo’ translates literally to ‘the sky is falling down’ in English, and if you have Mexican friends you’ll probably hear them say this phrase whenever there’s heavy rain, especially if it hails!
This one´s a very popular expression all across Mexico, so it’s important to know that it’s not as apocalyptic as it sounds … it’s just rain (or in the worst-case scenario, a hailstorm)!
En una llamada telefónica
Oscar – ¿Quieres venir a ver pelis?
Daniela – Me gustaría, pero el cielo se está cayendo por donde vivo.
Over a phone call
Oscar – Do you wanna come watch movies?
Daniela – I’d like to, but it’s absolutely pouring in my neighborhood.
Final thoughts
And that’s all, folks, 10 extremely useful ways of saying ‘rain’ in Spanish!
Mastering a new language is all in the details and knowing a variety of ways to describe the subtleties of something is one of the best ways to sound more native.
Hopefully this list helps you with precisely that!
Oh, and definitely check out our article on all the different ways to say ‘fart‘ in Spanish if you’d like to learn more super useful everyday vocab!
¡Nos vemos pronto! (… and don´t forget your brolly!)