A terra está molhada.

In Portuguese, it is very common to use the definite article with nouns when talking about something specific or understood from context. So a terra means the ground / the soil / the earth in this sentence.

You can sometimes omit the article in other contexts, but A terra está molhada sounds like the most natural basic sentence here.

Here, terra most naturally means ground, soil, or earth.

Depending on context, terra can also mean:

• land
• the Earth as a planet
• countryside / homeland in some expressions

In A terra está molhada, the usual interpretation is the ground is wet or the soil is wet.

Portuguese has two main verbs for to be: ser and estar.

Here, está is used because being wet is seen as a temporary condition or current state. The ground is wet now, probably because of rain or water.

So:

• estar molhada = to be wet right now / in this situation
• ser molhada would usually sound unnatural here

This is one of the most important differences between ser and estar.

Because terra is a feminine singular noun, the adjective has to agree with it.

So:

• terra = feminine singular
• molhada = feminine singular form of molhado

Compare:

• O chão está molhado. = The floor/ground is wet.
• A terra está molhada. = The soil is wet.

The adjective changes to match the noun’s gender and number.

You can tell here because it uses the article a, which is the feminine singular form of the.

So:

• a terra = feminine
• o chão = masculine

With many nouns, gender has to be learned along with the word itself. It is best to memorize nouns together with their article:

• a terra
• o chão
• a água

The accent mark shows the stressed syllable: es-TÁ.

It also helps distinguish está from esta:

• está = is
• esta = this (feminine)

So the accent is important both for pronunciation and meaning.

A simple approximation is:

ah TEH-ha es-TAH mo-LYAH-da

A few pronunciation notes:

• rr in terra is usually pronounced with a throaty h-like sound in Brazil.
• lh in molhada is similar to the lli in million, though not exactly the same.
• The final a in Brazilian Portuguese is often reduced, so terra may sound a bit like TEH-huh.

Yes. In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, está is very often shortened to tá in speech.

So you will commonly hear:

• A terra tá molhada.

This is very natural in conversation. In more careful or formal writing, está is preferred.

Yes, but A terra está molhada is the normal, neutral order: subject + verb + adjective.

Other orders are possible in special contexts, but they are less basic or less neutral. For example, you might hear a different order in poetry, emphasis, or very formal/literary language. For everyday use, stick with:

A terra está molhada.

Not necessarily. Capitalization can change the meaning.

• a terra usually means the ground / soil / earth
• a Terra with a capital T usually refers to the planet Earth

So:

• A terra está molhada. = The ground is wet.
• A Terra está molhada. would sound like Planet Earth is wet, which is possible only in a very special context.

It most strongly suggests soil/earth/dirt rather than an indoor floor.

If you want to say the floor is wet, Portuguese more often uses:

• O chão está molhado.

If you say A terra está molhada, many listeners will imagine dirt, soil, or ground outdoors.

Yes, Portuguese often allows the subject to be omitted when it is clear from context.

So if everyone already knows you are talking about the ground/soil, you can say:

• Está molhada.

However, by itself, that sentence just means It is wet or It’s wet, so the listener needs context to know what it refers to.