Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Brazil): Se não chover no feriado prolongado, as crianças vão nadar na piscina e desenhar no jardim. - If it doesn’t rain on the long holiday, the children will swim in the pool and draw in the garden.

Se não chover no feriado prolongado, as crianças vão nadar na piscina e desenhar no jardim.

If it doesn’t rain on the long holiday, the children will swim in the pool and draw in the garden.

Breakdown of Se não chover no feriado prolongado, as crianças vão nadar na piscina e desenhar no jardim.

não

not

and

to go (future auxiliary)

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Questions & Answers about Se não chover no feriado prolongado, as crianças vão nadar na piscina e desenhar no jardim.

Why is se used at the beginning? Could I use quando instead?

Se introduces a condition and corresponds to if in English. It shows that you are not sure what will happen:

Se não chover... = If it doesn’t rain...

Quando means when and suggests that the event is expected or certain:

Quando não chover... sounds like when it doesn’t rain (at that time), less about an uncertain condition and more about a time reference.

In this sentence we’re talking about a possible situation (maybe it will rain, maybe not), so se is the natural choice.

Why is it chover and not something like chove or choverá?

After se (if) when you talk about a future possibility, Portuguese normally uses the future subjunctive:

Se não chover... = If it doesn’t rain... (in the future)

For chover, the future subjunctive form is chover, which looks the same as the infinitive. That’s why it might be confusing.

Compare:

Se não chove, as crianças ficam em casa.
If it doesn’t rain (in general / whenever it doesn’t), the children stay home.
→ more general, present-time idea.
Se não chover, as crianças vão nadar.
If it doesn’t rain (on that specific future occasion), the children are going to swim.
→ specific future event, so future subjunctive.

Why is there no it in chover? In English we say it rains.

Portuguese weather verbs are impersonal and don’t take a subject:

Chove. = It’s raining. (literally just rains)
Vai chover. = It’s going to rain.

You never say ele chove or use any pronoun with chover in normal sentences. The verb stands alone.

How does não work in Se não chover? Could it go after the verb?

Não always goes before the verb it negates:

Se não chover... = If it does not rain...

You cannot say Se chover não in standard Portuguese for this meaning. So the pattern is:

não
- verb → não chover, não vai chover, não nadar, etc.

What exactly does no feriado prolongado mean, and how is it formed?

Grammatically, no is a contraction:

em (in/on) + o (the, masculine singular) → no

So:

no feriado prolongado = em o feriado prolongado = on the long holiday

Feriado is masculine, so you get no (not na).
If it were a feminine word, you’d have na:

na Páscoa = at Easter
no Natal = at Christmas

What does feriado prolongado mean culturally in Brazilian Portuguese?

Feriado prolongado is a holiday that creates a long weekend, often because:

the holiday falls on a Thursday or Tuesday and people also get Friday or Monday off, or
it falls on a Monday or Friday.

Common informal word: feriadão (big/long holiday).

So no feriado prolongado suggests something like over the long weekend / on the extended holiday break.

Does as crianças mean specifically the children or could it mean my kids?

Literally, as crianças = the children.

In context, it can refer to some specific children that speaker and listener know (for example, their own kids, kids in a class, etc.). In natural speech, Brazilians often rely on context for whose children they are.

If you want to be explicit:

as minhas crianças = my children (more emotional / affectionate)
meus filhos = my children (biological/adopted sons and daughters)

Why is it vão nadar instead of using the simple future like nadarão?

Brazilians usually prefer ir (present) + infinitive to talk about the future:

as crianças vão nadar = the children are going to swim

The simple future nadarão exists and is correct, but in everyday Brazilian Portuguese it sounds:

more formal, written, or
sometimes more distant or less conversational.

So:

as crianças vão nadar → natural, colloquial
as crianças nadarão → correct, but more formal / literary in Brazil

Why is the second verb just desenhar and not vão desenhar again?

Both parts share the same auxiliary verb vão:

as crianças vão [nadar na piscina] e [desenhar no jardim]

Repeating vão is possible but not necessary:

as crianças vão nadar na piscina e vão desenhar no jardim (correct, but a bit heavier)

Portuguese, like English, often avoids repeating the auxiliary when it’s clear:

They are going to swim and draw. (not usually are going to swim and are going to draw)

Why is it na piscina but no jardim?

Again, these are contractions of em + article:

piscina is feminine → em + a = na piscina (in the pool)
jardim is masculine → em + o = no jardim (in the garden)

So:

na piscina = in the pool
no jardim = in the garden

Why do we use em (na/no) for these places instead of another preposition?

For being in/at a place, Portuguese normally uses em:

nadar na piscina = swim in the pool
desenhar no jardim = draw in the garden
estudar na escola = study at school

If you used para or a, it would suggest movement toward the place (to the pool / to the garden), not being there:

ir para a piscina = go to the pool
ir ao jardim = go to the garden

Could I drop the article and say nadar em piscina or desenhar em jardim?

That sounds very unnatural in this context. In Brazilian Portuguese you almost always use the article with concrete, countable places:

natural: na piscina, no jardim, na escola, no parque
odd here: em piscina, em jardim

You mainly drop the article in more abstract uses or in some set expressions, but not in a normal sentence like this one.

Can the order of the clauses change? For example, can I say As crianças vão nadar... se não chover no feriado prolongado?

Yes, you can switch the order:

Se não chover no feriado prolongado, as crianças vão nadar...
As crianças vão nadar... se não chover no feriado prolongado.

The meaning is the same. Just remember:

When the se-clause comes first, you normally put a comma after it.
When it comes second, you usually don’t need a comma.