Weather & Nature — A2 Essential Words

weather /ˈweð.ɚ/ noun A2 Nature

Meaning: What the air is like outside at a time and place: sun, rain, wind, heat, or cold.

Example: The weather in Miami is warm all year.

Another example: What’s the weather like today, Clara?

Collocations: good weather · bad weather · weather forecast

Synonyms: conditions (in reports)

Word family: weather (n) · weather (v — to wear away slowly)

⚠ Common mistake: ’Weather’ is uncountable: say ’The weather is nice’, not ’The weathers are nice’ or ’a nice weather’. Use ’a’ only in ’a weather forecast’.

🗣 In spoken American English: Americans check the ’forecast’ — the report that tells tomorrow’s weather. ’What’s it like out?’ is a common way to ask about the weather.

Register: neutral — fine in speech and writing

rain /reɪn/ noun and verb A2 Nature

Meaning: Water that falls from clouds in small drops. As a verb, to fall as rain.

Example: We stayed home because of the heavy rain.

Another example: It rained all day yesterday in Seattle.

Collocations: heavy rain · in the rain · raincoat

Synonyms: shower (light rain), downpour (very heavy rain)

Antonyms: dry weather, sunshine

Word family: rain (n) · rain (v) · rainy (adj) · raincoat (n)

⚠ Common mistake: Say ’in the rain’ for being outside in it: ’We walked in the rain’. As a verb, the subject is ’it’: ’It’s raining’, not ’Is raining’.

🗣 In spoken American English: ’Rain check’ comes from baseball: a ticket to come back later. Today people say ’Can I take a rain check?’ to mean ’Let’s do this another day.’

Register: neutral — fine in speech and writing

snow /snoʊ/ noun and verb A2 Nature

Meaning: Soft white pieces of frozen water that fall from the sky in cold weather and cover the ground.

Example: The children played in the snow all afternoon.

Another example: It snowed last night in Boston.

Collocations: in the snow · snow day · snowman

Synonyms: snowfall

Word family: snow (n) · snow (v) · snowy (adj) · snowball (n)

⚠ Common mistake: ’Snow’ is usually uncountable: ’a lot of snow’, not ’many snows’. Like rain, the verb takes ’it’: ’It’s snowing’.

🗣 In spoken American English: A ’snow day’ is a day when schools close because of snow — children love this word. Chicago winters are famous for snow.

Register: neutral — fine in speech and writing

wind /wɪnd/ noun A2 Nature

Meaning: Air that moves quickly outside. Strong wind can move trees and make waves on water.

Example: The wind blew my hat off near the lake.

Another example: There was a cold wind from the north all day.

Collocations: strong wind · cold wind · the wind blows

Synonyms: breeze (a light, gentle wind)

Antonyms: calm

Word family: wind (n) · windy (adj)

⚠ Common mistake: The noun ’wind’ sounds like ’win’ + ’d’. Don’t mix it with the verb ’wind’ (/waɪnd/) in ’wind a clock’ — different pronunciation, different word.

🗣 In spoken American English: Chicago is called ’the Windy City’. Weather reports say things like ’Winds up to 30 miles an hour.’

Register: neutral — fine in speech and writing

sunny /ˈsʌn.i/ adjective A2 Nature

Meaning: With a lot of light and heat from the sun and few clouds in the sky.

Example: It’s a sunny day — let’s eat outside.

Another example: San Diego is sunny most of the year.

Collocations: a sunny day · sunny weather · sunny side

Synonyms: bright, clear

Antonyms: cloudy, rainy

Word family: sunny (adj) · sun (n) · sunshine (n) · sunglasses (n)

⚠ Common mistake: Say ’It’s sunny today’, with ’it’ for the weather. Don’t say ’Today is sun’ or ’The day is sun’ — ’sun’ is a noun, ’sunny’ is the adjective.

🗣 In spoken American English: ’Sunny side up’ is an egg fried on one side only. People also call a happy person ’sunny’.

Register: neutral — fine in speech and writing

storm /stɔːrm/ noun A2 Nature

Meaning: Very bad weather with strong wind and rain, and often thunder and lightning. Snow storms are called blizzards.

Example: The storm knocked down trees all over Houston.

Another example: We stayed inside during the storm last night.

Collocations: a big storm · storm warning · during the storm

Synonyms: tempest (literary)

Antonyms: calm, fair weather

Word family: storm (n) · stormy (adj) · thunderstorm (n)

⚠ Common mistake: Say ’during the storm’ for time and ’in the storm’ for being caught in it. Don’t say ’a storm of rain’ — say ’a rainstorm’ or just ’a storm’.

🗣 In spoken American English: On the news you will hear ’storm warning’ — an official message that dangerous weather is coming.

Register: neutral — fine in speech and writing

beach /biːtʃ/ noun A2 Nature

Meaning: An area of sand or small stones next to the ocean or a lake, where people sit and swim.

Example: We spent the whole day at the beach in Miami.

Another example: The children built a castle in the sand at the beach.

Collocations: at the beach · beach day · go to the beach

Synonyms: shore, coast (the land along the sea)

Word family: beach (n) · beach umbrella (n) · beach towel (n)

⚠ Common mistake: Say ’at the beach’ or ’on the beach’ — both are fine. Don’t say ’in the beach’. Careful with pronunciation: ’beach’ has a long ’ee’ sound.

🗣 In spoken American English: A ’beach day’ is a day you plan to spend at the beach. Popular American beach food is simple: sandwiches, fruit, and cold drinks.

Register: neutral — fine in speech and writing

river /ˈrɪv.ɚ/ noun A2 Nature

Meaning: A long, natural line of water that flows across the land to a lake or the ocean.

Example: The river runs from the mountains down to the ocean near San Diego.

Another example: We had a picnic by the river on Saturday.

Collocations: by the river · river bank · cross the river

Synonyms: stream (a small river), creek (a small stream)

Word family: river (n) · riverside (n/adj)

⚠ Common mistake: Say ’by the river’ for the land next to it and ’on the river’ for boats. Don’t say ’in the river’ unless someone is really in the water.

🗣 In spoken American English: ’Up the river’ and ’down the river’ tell direction. Many American songs and stories are about life on big rivers.

Register: neutral — fine in speech and writing

mountain /ˈmaʊn.tən/ noun A2 Nature

Meaning: A very high area of land, much higher than a hill, often with rock and snow at the top.

Example: Denver is close to the Rocky Mountains.

Another example: They climbed the mountain in two days.

Collocations: a high mountain · mountain air · in the mountains

Synonyms: peak (the top of a mountain)

Antonyms: valley (low land between mountains)

Word family: mountain (n) · mountainous (adj) · mountaineer (n)

⚠ Common mistake: Say ’in the mountains’ for the whole area: ’We spent a week in the mountains’. The top of one mountain is its ’peak’ or ’top’, not ’head’.

🗣 In spoken American English: Watch the pronunciation: many Americans say ’MOUN-tn’, almost skipping the middle sound. ’Make a mountain out of a molehill’ means to make a small problem seem big.

Register: neutral — fine in speech and writing

forest /ˈfɔːr.ɪst/ noun A2 Nature

Meaning: A large area of land covered with many trees growing close together.

Example: We walked for hours in the cool, dark forest.

Another example: Many wild animals live in the forest near Seattle.

Collocations: in the forest · a thick forest · forest fire

Synonyms: woods, woodland

Word family: forest (n) · forestry (n) · rainforest (n)

⚠ Common mistake: Use ’forest’ for a big area of trees. A small group of trees near a house is ’the woods’. Don’t say ’a forest of one tree’ — a forest always has many trees.

🗣 In spoken American English: ’Can’t see the forest for the trees’ means you think about small details and miss the big picture.

Register: neutral — fine in speech and writing