Falar do Tempo

Literal Today it is very cloudy, don't you find?

A natural way to open a weather conversation and invite agreement from a friend using the tag question 'não achas?'.

• 'Está' is the third person singular of 'estar', used for current, temporary weather conditions.
• 'Não achas?' is a tag question from the verb 'achar' (to think/find), very common in everyday European Portuguese.

Literal It makes a lot of heat for this period of the year.

The expression 'faz calor' is the standard Portuguese way to say it's hot. Never say 'está calor' — always use 'faz'.

• 'Faz' is the third person singular of 'fazer' used in impersonal weather expressions: faz calor, faz frio, faz vento, faz sol.
• 'Para esta época do ano' (for this time of year) is a handy phrase for comparing current conditions to the season.

Literal It seems that it is going to rain this afternoon.

'Parece que' softens the prediction, making it sound natural and conversational rather than definitive.

• 'Vai + infinitive' expresses near-future prediction or intention.
• 'Parece que' (it seems/looks like) is used to introduce an uncertain observation — very common in casual speech.

Literal I prefer the days of sun to any other weather.

Expressing a personal weather preference using 'preferir', with the preposition 'a' to mark the comparison.

• 'Preferir A a B' means 'to prefer A to B' — the preposition 'a' introduces what is less preferred.
• 'Tempo' means both 'weather' and 'time' in Portuguese; context always makes the meaning clear.

Literal At the end of the week, if it makes good weather, we go to the beach.

A classic weather-dependent plan using the conditional. The future subjunctive signals that the outcome is uncertain.

• 'Se fizer' uses the future subjunctive of 'fazer', which is required in Portuguese conditional clauses about future events.
• 'Vamos à praia' — the preposition 'a' contracts with the definite article 'a' to form 'à'.

Literal It is raining since yesterday at night.

In European Portuguese, ongoing actions use 'estar a + infinitive'. This sentence also shows how to express the starting point of a continuing action.

• European Portuguese uses 'estar a + infinitive' for ongoing actions (está a chover); Brazilian Portuguese uses the gerund (está chovendo).
• 'Desde' means 'since' and introduces the starting point of an action still in progress: 'desde ontem' (since yesterday).

Literal The wind is very strong today.

Describing wind intensity with 'estar + adjective', the standard pattern for current conditions in Portuguese.

• 'Estar + adjective' describes temporary or current states — distinct from 'ser + adjective' for permanent qualities.
• 'Forte' (strong) is an invariable adjective — the same form is used with both masculine and feminine nouns.

Literal What cold! It does not appeal to me to leave the house.

'Apetecer' is a key European Portuguese verb for expressing reluctance or desire. The cold weather here triggers the feeling perfectly.

• 'Que + noun/adjective!' forms natural exclamations: 'Que frio!' (How cold!), 'Que calor!' (How hot!), 'Que vento!' (What wind!).
• 'Apetecer' is an impersonal verb: 'não me apetece' literally means 'it does not appeal to me' — the equivalent of 'I don't feel like it'.

Literal Spring brings always rain and sun alternated.

Describing a recurring seasonal pattern with a simple present tense statement — a natural way to talk about climate and seasons.

• 'Trazer' (to bring) is irregular in the present tense: trago, trazes, traz, trazemos, trazeis, trazem.
• 'Alternados' agrees in gender and number with the compound noun 'chuva e sol', treated as masculine plural.

Literal If the weather improves, we can give a turn in the park.

Another conditional using the future subjunctive, expressing a plan that depends on improving weather. 'Dar uma volta' is an idiomatic expression worth memorising.

• 'Melhorar' takes the future subjunctive in the conditional clause: 'se melhorar' — this form is identical to the personal infinitive for regular verbs.
• 'Dar uma volta' (literally 'to give a turn') is an idiomatic expression meaning 'to go for a walk or stroll'.