Vocabulary · Brazilian Portuguese
Weather in Brazilian Portuguese
The weather in Portuguese with audio and an example each: sun and heat, rain and storms, cold and wind, the seasons, and the phrases Brazilians actually use to say it's hot, which you'll need far more often than the cold ones.
41 words, each with audio · Quiz and flashcards
Weather in Portuguese, with audio
Talking about the weather
| Listen | Portuguese | English | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| o tempo | weather; timeThe same word as time: Como está o tempo? is “What's the weather like?” | Como está o tempo aí em Curitiba?What's the weather like there in Curitiba? | |
| o clima | climateAlso the mood of a place: o clima da festa. | O clima do Nordeste é quente o ano todo.The Northeast has a hot climate all year. | |
| a previsão do tempo | weather forecast | A previsão do tempo diz que vai chover.The weather forecast says it's going to rain. | |
| a temperatura | temperature | A temperatura caiu muito à noite.The temperature dropped a lot at night. | |
| o grau | degreeAlways Celsius: trinta graus is a hot day. | Hoje está fazendo trinta e cinco graus.It's thirty-five degrees today. |
Sun and heat
| Listen | Portuguese | English | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| o sol | sun | Passa protetor, que o sol está forte.Put on sunscreen, the sun is strong. | |
| o calor | heatEstá calor or está fazendo calor: it's hot. | Que calor! Vamos para a praia?It's so hot! Shall we go to the beach? | |
| quente | hot, warm | A água do mar está quente hoje.The sea is warm today. | |
| abafado, abafada | muggy, stuffy | O dia está abafado, deve chover mais tarde.It's muggy today, it'll probably rain later. | |
| seco, seca | dryA seca is a drought, as in the sertão. | Em Brasília o ar fica muito seco em agosto.In Brasília the air gets very dry in August. | |
| o céu | sky | O céu está azul, sem nenhuma nuvem.The sky is blue, without a single cloud. | |
| a nuvem | cloud | Olha aquela nuvem escura chegando.Look at that dark cloud coming. | |
| nublado, nublada | cloudy | Amanhã vai estar nublado o dia todo.Tomorrow will be cloudy all day. | |
| esquentar | to get warmer, to heat up | Depois do almoço o tempo esquentou.After lunch the weather warmed up. |
Rain and storms
| Listen | Portuguese | English | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| a chuva | rain | Não esquece o guarda-chuva, vai ter chuva.Don't forget your umbrella, there'll be rain. | |
| chover | to rainOnly in the third person: chove, choveu, vai chover. | Choveu a noite inteira em São Paulo.It rained all night in São Paulo. | |
| a garoa | drizzleSão Paulo is a terra da garoa, the land of drizzle. | É só uma garoa, não precisa de guarda-chuva.It's just drizzle, you don't need an umbrella. | |
| a pancada de chuva | sudden downpourThe forecast's word for a short, heavy shower. | No verão tem pancada de chuva toda tarde.In summer there's a downpour every afternoon. | |
| a tempestade | storm | A tempestade derrubou várias árvores.The storm knocked down several trees. | |
| o temporal | heavy stormThe everyday word for a storm with strong rain. | Caiu um temporal e a rua alagou.A heavy storm hit and the street flooded. | |
| o trovão | thunder | O cachorro tem medo de trovão.The dog is scared of thunder. | |
| o raio | lightning bolt | Um raio caiu perto da nossa casa.A bolt of lightning struck near our house. | |
| o relâmpago | flash of lightning | Vi um relâmpago e depois ouvi o trovão.I saw a flash of lightning and then heard the thunder. | |
| o guarda-chuva | umbrella | Esqueci o guarda-chuva no ônibus.I left my umbrella on the bus. | |
| úmido, úmida | humid, damp | No Rio o ar é quente e úmido.In Rio the air is hot and humid. |
Cold and wind
| Listen | Portuguese | English | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| o frio | coldAlso the adjective: um dia frio, uma noite fria. | Em julho faz frio no Sul.In July it's cold in the South. | |
| fresco, fresca | cool, fresh | De manhã cedo o tempo está fresco.Early in the morning it's cool. | |
| o vento | wind | Está ventando muito, fecha a janela.It's very windy, close the window. | |
| a neblina | fog, mist | A estrada da serra tem muita neblina.The mountain road is very foggy. | |
| a geada | frost | Teve geada no Paraná esta semana.There was frost in Paraná this week. | |
| a neve | snowRare in Brazil: a few towns in Santa Catarina see it some winters. | Ela nunca viu neve na vida.She's never seen snow in her life. | |
| esfriar | to get colder, to cool down | Leva um casaco, vai esfriar à noite.Take a jacket, it'll get colder at night. |
The seasons
| Listen | Portuguese | English | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| a estação | season; stationAs estações do ano: the seasons of the year. | Qual é a sua estação preferida?What's your favorite season? | |
| o verão | summerDecember to March in Brazil. | No verão a gente vai para o litoral.In summer we go to the coast. | |
| o outono | autumn, fall | O outono começa em março no Brasil.Autumn starts in March in Brazil. | |
| o inverno | winter | O inverno em Gramado é bem frio.Winter in Gramado is really cold. | |
| a primavera | spring | Na primavera os ipês ficam floridos.In spring the ipê trees are in bloom. |
Phrases
| Listen | Portuguese | English | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| está calor | it's hotIn speech, tá calor, or tá um calor! | Está calor hoje, liga o ventilador.It's hot today, turn on the fan. | |
| faz frio | it's cold (usually)Fazer for what is usual, estar for right now. | Em Porto Alegre faz frio no inverno.In Porto Alegre it's cold in winter. | |
| vai chover | it's going to rain | Olha o céu, vai chover daqui a pouco.Look at the sky, it's going to rain soon. | |
| que dia lindo | what a beautiful day | Que dia lindo para ir à praia!What a beautiful day to go to the beach! |
How Brazilians use them
Estar, fazer or ter?
For the weather right now Brazilians use estar: está calor, está chovendo, está nublado. Fazer is for what is usual or a temperature (faz frio no inverno, está fazendo trinta graus), and ter for what happens: tem muita chuva em março.
The seasons are the other way round
South of the equator, summer runs from December to March, so Christmas and New Year are on the beach, and winter is June to September. In the North and Northeast the seasons that matter are the rainy one and the dry one.
Brazilians talk about the heat
Most of Brazil is hot for most of the year, so you'll say calor far more than frio: que calor!, tá um calor!, morrendo de calor (dying of heat). Anything under about 18 degrees counts as cold, and people bring out coats.
Practise
Quick quiz · question 1 of 8
What does raio mean?
Questions
How do you say “weather” in Portuguese?
O tempo, the same word as time: Como está o tempo? (What's the weather like?). Clima is the climate of a place over the year, and the forecast is a previsão do tempo.
How do you say “it's hot” in Portuguese?
Está calor, or está fazendo calor; in speech, tá calor or tá um calor! Never estou quente for the weather: that describes your own body, and can sound flirtatious. Say estou com calor (I'm hot).
How do you say “it's raining” in Portuguese?
Está chovendo, or in speech tá chovendo. It's going to rain is vai chover, it rained is choveu, and a light drizzle is garoa.
What are the seasons in Portuguese?
Verão (summer), outono (autumn), inverno (winter) and primavera (spring): as quatro estações. In Brazil summer is December to March.
More Portuguese words
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