No verão, quando faz muito calor, eu prefiro nadar na piscina.

In the summer, when it is very hot, I prefer to swim in the pool.

Breakdown of No verão, quando faz muito calor, eu prefiro nadar na piscina.

• eu: I
• muito: very
• na: in the
• quando: when
• preferir: to prefer
• fazer: to make
• no: in the
• o verão: the summer
• nadar: to swim
• a piscina: the pool
• o calor: the heat

Questions & Answers about No verão, quando faz muito calor, eu prefiro nadar na piscina.

Why is it “No verão” and not just “Em verão” or “No Summer” with a capital letter?

“No” = “em” + “o” (in + the), so “No verão” literally means “in the summer”.

In Portuguese, seasons normally take the definite article:

• no verão – in (the) summer
• no outono – in (the) autumn/fall
• no inverno – in (the) winter
• na primavera – in (the) spring

Using just “em verão” is unusual and sounds wrong in this context.

Capitalization: in Portuguese, seasons are not capitalized (unless at the beginning of a sentence or in certain titles). So:

• no verão = in the summer
  Not No Verão in the middle of a sentence.

Why do you say “faz muito calor” instead of something like “é muito quente” or “está muito quente”?

Portuguese often talks about weather with the verb fazer:

• faz calor – it’s hot
• faz frio – it’s cold
• faz sol – it’s sunny
• faz vento – it’s windy

These are somewhat fixed expressions and very common, especially in Brazil.

You can say:

• Está muito quente. – It’s very hot.

But “é muito quente” is usually for describing something’s permanent characteristic:

• O deserto é muito quente. – The desert is very hot.

So, for “When it’s very hot (weather)”, the neutral, everyday way is:

• quando faz muito calor
  or
• quando está muito quente

What does “faz calor” literally mean? Is there a subject?

Literally, “faz calor” is “(it) makes heat” or “(it) does heat”.

Grammar point:

• The verb fazer here is impersonal: there is no real subject, similar to English “it” in “it’s raining”, which doesn’t refer to anything concrete.
• You just memorize “faz calor” as the natural way to say “it’s hot (weather)”.

You’ll see the same pattern with time:

• Faz dois anos que moro aqui. – I’ve been living here for two years. (Literally: It makes two years that I live here.)

Can you say “quando está muito calor” instead of “quando faz muito calor”?

Native speakers sometimes say “está calor” in informal speech, but it’s more standard to say:

• Está quente. – It’s hot.
• Faz calor. – It’s hot.

“Está muito calor” is common in Brazil in casual conversation, but grammar books typically prefer:

• Está muito quente.
• Faz muito calor.

So, for learners, it’s safest to stick with “faz (muito) calor” or “está (muito) quente”.

Why is it “muito calor” and not “muito quente” in this sentence?

Both are possible, but they use different structures:

• fazer calor (to be hot)

  • faz muito calor = it’s very hot (literally: it makes a lot of heat)

• estar quente (to be hot)

  • está muito quente = it’s very hot

You usually don’t mix them:

• ✅ faz muito calor
• ✅ está muito quente
• ❌ faz muito quente (wrong)
• ❌ está muito calor (understood, often heard, but less “textbook correct”)

In the sentence you gave, they chose the “fazer calor” pattern, so it naturally becomes “faz muito calor”.

Why is it “eu prefiro nadar” and not “eu prefiro nado”?

After “preferir” (“to prefer”), Portuguese normally uses:

• an infinitive verb: preferir + infinitive
• or a noun.

So:

• Eu prefiro nadar. – I prefer to swim.
• Eu prefiro café. – I prefer coffee.

Using a conjugated verb (“nado”) directly after “prefiro” doesn’t work:

• ❌ Eu prefiro nado.

If you want two actions:

• Eu prefiro nadar a correr. – I prefer swimming to running.
  (In Brazil, many say “prefiro nadar do que correr”, which is very common in speech.)

Can I drop the “eu” and just say “Prefiro nadar na piscina”?

Yes.

In Portuguese, subject pronouns (eu, você, ele, etc.) are often optional because the verb ending already shows the person:

• (Eu) prefiro – I prefer
• (Ele) prefere – He prefers

Both are correct:

• Eu prefiro nadar na piscina.
• Prefiro nadar na piscina.

Including “eu” can:

• add emphasis: Eu prefiro nadar na piscina (as opposed to someone else)
• sound a bit more explicit and clear, especially for learners.

Why is it “na piscina” and not “em a piscina” or “à piscina”?

“Na” is the contraction of:

• em + a → na

So:

• em + a piscina → na piscina – in the pool

You virtually always contract:

• em + a → na
• em + o → no

“À piscina” would be from a + a piscina (to the pool), used for direction, not location:

• Vou à piscina. – I’m going to the pool.
• Estou na piscina. – I’m in the pool.

In your sentence, it’s about where you prefer to swim, not where you’re going, so “na piscina” is correct.

Could it be “na praia” instead of “na piscina”? Is there any grammar difference?

Grammatically, it’s the same pattern:

• na piscina – in the pool
• na praia – at the beach / on the beach

Both are:

• em + a piscina → na piscina
• em + a praia → na praia

The only difference is meaning, not grammar:

• prefiro nadar na piscina – I prefer to swim in the pool
• prefiro nadar na praia – I prefer to swim at the beach (often understood as in the sea/ocean there)

Are both commas in “No verão, quando faz muito calor, eu prefiro…” really necessary?

They’re not absolutely “necessary” for understanding, but they follow common punctuation practice in Portuguese:

• “No verão” – an adverbial time expression. A comma after it is common:
  
  • No verão, eu viajo.
• “quando faz muito calor” – a subordinate clause (when it’s very hot).
  Normally, a clause like this is separated by commas when it’s in the middle:

So:

• No verão, quando faz muito calor, eu prefiro nadar na piscina.

You might occasionally see:

• No verão quando faz muito calor eu prefiro nadar na piscina.

This is not wrong in informal writing, but the version with commas is more standard and clearer.

How do you pronounce “verão”, and what’s the function of the tilde (~) over the “ã”?

“Verão” is roughly pronounced: [veh-RÃO].

Points:

• The stress is on the last syllable: ve-RÃO.
• The “ã” with a tilde (~) is a nasal vowel. Air flows through the nose as well as the mouth.
• The “ão” sound is a common Portuguese nasal diphthong, heard in words like:
  • não (no/not)
  • pão (bread)
  • coração (heart)

So the tilde (~) indicates that the vowel is nasalized, not just a plain “a”.

Is “verão” masculine or feminine? Why is it “no verão” and not “na verão”?

“Verão” (summer) is masculine in Portuguese:

• o verão – the summer

That’s why you get:

• no verão = em + o verão (in the summer)

Other seasons:

• o outono – no outono (in the autumn/fall)
• o inverno – no inverno (in the winter)
• a primavera – na primavera (in the spring)

So:

• no verão (masc.)
• na primavera (fem.)