o tempo está quente
In Portuguese, "the weather is hot" is said as o tempo está quente.
This phrase is used to describe a high outdoor temperature.
Which one should you use?
The phrase está quente is used to imply that the current temperature is hot. In contrast, saying é quente would imply that the weather is inherently and permanently hot by nature.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Brazil, you may hear Tá quente pra caramba! to mean "It's freaking hot!" or Tá um calor danado! to mean "It's scorching hot!" In Portugal, the phrase Está um calor insuportável! is used to express "It's unbearable heat!"
How does it change in a sentence?
The verb used in these phrases is a form of estar, which is used for temporary states such as the weather, rather than ser, which is used for permanent characteristics. In the phrase o tempo está quente, the adjective quente must agree in gender with the masculine noun tempo.
Did you know?
- The phrase está um calor danado uses the word danado, which literally means 'damned'. It is used here as an intensifier to describe scorching heat without being strictly profane.
- The word tempo comes from the Latin tempus, which originally meant a 'stretch' of time. This root is also the ancestor of the English word 'tempo' used in music.
- In informal Brazilian speech, the word está is almost always shortened to tá. This transforms the formal está quente into the colloquial tá quente in daily conversation.
Examples in context
- Hoje o tempo está quente.Today the weather is hot.
- Não gosto quando o tempo está quente.I don't like it when the weather is hot.
Example conversation
Camila and Felipe are talking about the temperature outside.
- CamilaFelipe, o tempo está quente lá fora.Felipe, the weather is hot outside.
- FelipeSim, está muito abafado.Yes, it is very stifling.
- CamilaVamos ligar o ar-condicionado?Shall we turn on the air conditioning?
- FelipeSim, por favor.Yes, please.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries está, o, quente, tempo, CC BY-SA 4.0.
