The Rain

On a rainy day, or dia de chuva, when people are in the rain, we say they are à chuva (at the rain). That’s why people often carry guarda-chuvas (umbrellas), also called chapéus de chuva.

Sometimes, the rain can be described as chuva miudinha, meaning a light drizzle, or chuva molha-tolos which is the same but roughly translates to rain that wets fools.

If the rain is extreme, we will call it uma chuva torrencial (a torrential rain).

The word is also used metaphorically to describe a meteor shower, which is a chuva de estrelas (rain of stars), or something that happens in great quantity such as uma chuva de reclamações (a rain of complaints) or uma chuva de elogios (a rain of compliments).

The idiom faça chuva ou faça sol means come rain or shine.

• 🧒 As crianças brincam no parque, faça chuva ou faça sol. (The children play in the park, come rain or shine.)

The following words belong to the family of the word chuva:

• Chover (to rain)
  • 🌧️ Está a chover a potes. (Literally: It’s raining by jars. It is an idiom similar to It's raining cats and dogs. )
• Chuviscar (to drizzle, to rain very lightly)
  • O dia está quente mas está a chuviscar um bocado. (The day is warm but it is drizzling a bit.)
• Chuveiro (shower)
  • 🛁 A casa de banho não tem banheira. Tem um chuveiro. (The bathroom has no bathtub. It has a shower.)