You may have seen recent news reports about flooding caused by heavy rains in Southern California. Let's take a look today at some English words related to rain.

And being so small, they pass through the sewage filters and straight out into our rivers and seas, especially at times of heavy rainfall.

Captions 58-60, TEDxBristol: Why Plastic Pollution is Personal | Natalie Fee

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Rain is the most general term for water falling from clouds out of the sky. The word "rainfall" is, according to the Merriam Webster dictionary, a steady fall of rain, as opposed to rain falling very briefly. In many cases, however, the words are interchangeable. You'll more likely hear about "the amount of rainfall" in a weather report.

There is freedom within, there is freedom without... trying to catch a deluge in a paper cup.

Captions 3-4, Miley Cyrus and Ariana Grande: Don't Dream It's Over

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The noun "deluge" can mean a flood, but in its secondary meaning, it's defined as "a steady falling of water from the sky in significant quantity" and "a drenching rain." So if you want to mean a very, very heavy rain, deluge is a good word to pick. Notice that it is pronounced in two syllables with a soft "g."

Occasional strong downpours wash over the land during the summer and dry river beds fill up for a short time.

Captions 6-7, The Last Paradises: America's National Parks

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A downpour can generally mean anything pouring downward, but is also used to specifically mean a heavy rain. But it's not as heavy as a deluge, which may be flood-related.

There is constant rain, freezing rain, cloudbursts, steady rain, drizzle, mist, thundershowers, summer rain, winter rain, and pouring rain.

Captions 10-12, Piggeldy and Frederick: Rain

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A cloudburst is a sudden heavy rain that probably does not last a long time. A drizzle, on the other hand, is a fine misty rain—which brings us to mist: Mist is a rain that is so fine that the rainwater is nearly suspended in the air, and it's a bit like walking through a heavy cloud. Mist is like a heavier version of fog. A thundershower is a rain accompanied by thunder and its scientific cause—lightning.

April showers bring May flowers.

Caption 20, Sigrid: Spring Musings

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The term "thundershower" contains the word "shower," and much like the showers that we take when washing ourselves, is a kind of rain of short duration.

Back in the Yosemite Valley, the precipitation falls in the form of rain.

Caption 16, Project Earth: California, Unknown Beauty

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Precipitation is the scientific term for moisture that falls from the sky to earth. It can mean rain, snow, hail, sleet, or mist.

Another noun related to rain is sprinkle, which is related to sprinkler, a device which distributes water through hoses in gardens and on farms. A sprinkle suggests, in this context, a very light rain. Sometimes downfall is also used to mean rain, although it is more often used in a political context to mean a fall from power.

Further Learning
Watch the full length Piggledy and Frederick video above, as it's all about rain. You can also go to Yabla English and look up the other rain vocabulary words (cloudburst, deluge, downpour, drizzle, precipitation, rainfall, shower, and thundershower) to see them used in different contexts.

Summer is on its way, and if you are lucky, you may have a garden in your yard that you can take care of. To do that, it may help if you know the names of the gardening tools that you may need. Let's take a look today at some of the English names of some standard gardening tools.

This is what parts of Australia looked like before the European settlers arrived with their axes and saws.

Captions 14-15, BBC Planet Wild: Alien Animals

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An ax is used to chop through the trunks of trees and large branches. The word is made plural by adding "-es" for "axes." Sometimes the singular word is written as "axe," which is grammatically correct, but perhaps a bit old-fashioned. "Ax" is also a verb, "to ax." Thus you can ax a tree down, or you can cut a tree down with an ax.

A saw is used to cut through the trunks of trees and large branches. The plural form is, as you see in the example above, "saws." You can also use "to saw" as a verb. Thus you can saw a tree down, or you can cut a tree down with a saw. A saw that is especially made for cutting branches is called a "pruning saw."

I rake the leaves with a rake.

Caption 25, The Alphabet: The Letter A

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A rake is a gardening tool with a long, usually wooden handle. It has a wide metal fork with hooked ends that allow you to gather leaves and yard debris, much as you sweep with a broom. As you see in the example above, "to rake" is a verb and a "rake" is a noun.

We helped with hands and wheelbarrows, shovels and sweat.

Captions 46-47, All Hands: Volunteers Appeal Video

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People have to shovel their driveways and sidewalks in front of the house.

Caption 43, The Seasons: Winter

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A shovel, also called a spade, also usually has a long wooden handle. Its end is a triangle-shaped flat metal piece that is used to dig holes in the ground or move dirt, sand, and even snow. As you see in the second example, "to shovel" is also a verb.

A wheelbarrow is a cart with one wheel in front and stands in the back that is used to carry dirt, sand, and other similar things. There is no verb derived from "wheelbarrow," and usually its usage is "to push a wheelbarrow."

And anyone who laid it on with a trowel...

Caption 18, The History of English: Shakespeare

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A trowel is similar to a shovel, but much smaller. It works well for making small holes to put potted plants into the ground. The phrase "to lay it on with a trowel" is also an idiom, or saying, that means "to exaggerate."

People have lawn mowers and they mow the lawn.

Captions 27-28, Sigrid Spring Musings

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A lawn mower is a machine used to cut the grass or lawn. Some of them are manual and require a lot of force to push them by hand. Most lawn mowers today have electric or gasoline motors, and some even have powered wheels. There are also lawn mowers called "riding lawn mowers" that you can sit on and drive.

Further Learning
Go to Yabla English and study the captions in the videos above to get a better idea of the contexts in which references to these garden tools have been made. You can also go to this site and see a long list of different kinds of gardening tools.