Jugando en la nieve y teniendo frío

What is the difference between “tengo frío” and “hace frío”?

Spanish does not say “I am cold” the way English does. To say you feel cold, you use tener (to have): tengo frío, literally “I have cold.” To talk about the weather, you use hacer (to make): hace frío, literally “it makes cold.” So a person has cold and the weather makes cold. Saying estoy frío would sound like you are a cold object.

The clip puts both side by side: Hace frío. Hoy hace frío. Yo tengo frío (“It’s cold. Today it’s cold. I am cold”). First the weather, then the person — the exact pair a beginner needs to keep straight.