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Weather & Small Talk: Está a Chover!

Rain, cold houses and 'que tempo!' — the European Portuguese you need to talk about the weather, Portugal's favourite conversation starter.

📝 Vocabulary

PortugueseEnglishNotes
O tempoThe weatherAlso means 'time' — context does the work
Está a choverIt's rainingEP uses estar a + infinitive, never the gerund
A chuvaThe rain
O guarda-chuvaThe umbrellaLiterally 'rain-guard'
Está frio / Está calorIt's cold / It's hot
Está ventoIt's windy
Está nubladoIt's cloudy
O aquecedorThe heaterMost Portuguese homes have no central heating
A previsão do tempoThe weather forecast
Chove a potes!It's pouring!Literally 'it rains by the pot-load'

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💡 Grammar Notes

Estar for Today's Weather

Weather right now is a temporary state, so it takes estar (in the third person, with no subject):

  • "Está frio." (It's cold.)
  • "Está sol, mas está vento." (It's sunny, but it's windy.)
  • "Hoje está um dia lindo." (Today is a beautiful day.)

Estar a + Infinitive: What's Happening Now

European Portuguese builds the "-ing" form with estar a + the infinitive:

  • "Está a chover." (It's raining.)
  • "Está a começar a chover." (It's starting to rain.)
  • "Parou de chover?" (Has it stopped raining?)

Small Talk Formulas

The weather is the safest opener in any Portuguese queue, lift or café:

  • "Que tempo!" (What weather! — said with a sigh, works for rain or heat)
  • "Amanhã vai chover, não vai?" (It's going to rain tomorrow, isn't it?)
  • "Está um frio de rachar!" (It's freezing — literally "a cold to crack")
  • "Ao menos não está a chover." (At least it isn't raining.)

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