Weather Expressions with FAZER

In Portuguese, weather expressions with fazer are impersonal. This means there is no person doing the action. You don't say "I make cold" or "He makes sun." We use the third-person singular form: faz. This little word does all the heavy lifting. It stays the same regardless of what weather follows it. Even if you are talking about multiple things, faz remains singular. It is like a grammar rock that never moves. You just put faz at the start and add the weather condition. It is much easier than conjugating verbs for people. Think of it as a shortcut to sounding fluent.

1. 1Creating these sentences follows a very strict and easy recipe. Follow these steps to build your weather report:
2. 2Start with the verb faz. Always keep it in the singular form.
3. 3Add the noun or adjective describing the weather (e.g., sol, frio, calor).
4. 4Optional: Add an intensifier like muito (very/a lot) for extra drama.
5. 5Optional: Add a time reference like hoje (today) or agora (now).
6. 6Example: Faz + muito + calor + hoje. (It is very hot today).

Use fazer for general, ongoing weather conditions. It is perfect for describing the atmosphere of the day. Use it when you walk outside and feel the temperature. It works great for sun, wind, cold, and heat.

• Use it at the beach: Faz muito sol hoje! (It is very sunny today!)
• Use it in the mountains: Faz frio aqui. (It is cold here.)
• Use it during a breezy afternoon: Faz vento. (It is windy.)

Imagine you are in a job interview. The interviewer asks how you are. You can break the ice by saying, Faz um dia bonito, não faz? (It is a beautiful day, isn't it?). It shows you are comfortable with the language flow. Just don't spend the whole interview talking about the clouds.

Don't use fazer for specific weather actions. Verbs like raining or snowing are their own bosses. For these, we use specific verbs like chover (to rain) or nevar (to snow).

• Wrong: Faz chuva. (While technically understood, it sounds like a robot).
• Right: Está chovendo. (It is raining.)

Also, avoid using fazer for your internal temperature. If you feel cold, use the verb ter (to have). Saying Eu faço frio means you are literally creating ice from your fingertips. Unless you are a superhero, stick to Eu estou com frio (I am cold).

The biggest trap is using the verb ser or estar (to be). English speakers love to say O tempo é quente. Native speakers will understand you, but it sounds clunky. It is like wearing socks with sandals—not illegal, just a bit weird.

Another mistake is pluralizing the verb. You might want to say fazem dez graus (it makes ten degrees). Even though "ten" is plural, the weather expression stays singular: faz dez graus. Think of faz as a singular package deal. Yes, even native speakers mess this up sometimes when they are in a hurry! But you are better than that. Keep it singular, keep it simple.

Sometimes you will hear people use estar (to be) for weather. For example, Está calor. This is very common in spoken, informal Portuguese. So, what is the difference?

• Faz calor: Describes the general state of the day. It is more "standard."
• Está calor: Describes how the weather feels right now, in this moment.

Think of faz as the climate and está as the immediate sensation. If you are writing an email or speaking formally, faz is your safest bet. If you are sweating at a football match, está calor is perfectly fine. It is like a grammar traffic light; faz is the green light for almost every situation.