When the sun heats the water of the earth's surface, it turns into water vapour, then it begins its wonderful travel to the atmosphere. This part is called evaporation.
When the water changes to water vapour rises to the atmosphere then it cools and forms the clouds, this second part of the "trip" we call it condensation, as we know the clouds are tiny drops of water but when they grow they have more and more water they end up falling and returning to the earth in the form of rain or snow. This part is called precipitation.The water that falls in the form of rain or snow to the rivers ... and the water that falls on the ground and seeps creating underground water currents ... all that water continues its journey traveling long distances until it reaches the sea. Once in the sea everything starts again: evaporation, condensation, precipitation