Há uma nuvem cinzenta sobre a cidade.

There is a grey cloud over the city.

Breakdown of Há uma nuvem cinzenta sobre a cidade.

• a cidade: the city
• uma: a
• haver: to exist
• cinzento: grey
• sobre: over
• a nuvem: the cloud

Questions & Answers about Há uma nuvem cinzenta sobre a cidade.

Why use há at the start of the sentence instead of tem?

In European Portuguese, há is the impersonal form of the verb haver meaning there is/are. It’s the standard way to express existence. Tem (from ter) is common in Brazilian Portuguese for the same meaning, but in Portugal you’ll hear há in both spoken and written language.

What part of speech is nuvem and why does it use uma?

Nuvem is a feminine, singular noun meaning cloud. We use the indefinite article uma (a/an) because we’re introducing one cloud in a non-specific way, just like “a cloud” in English.

Why is the adjective cinzenta placed after the noun nuvem?

In Portuguese, descriptive adjectives usually come after the noun. Placing cinzenta before nuvem (i.e. cinzenta nuvem) is poetic or emphatic but sounds marked in everyday speech.

Why is it cinzenta and not cinzento or cinza?

Adjectives in Portuguese agree in gender and number with the noun they modify. Nuvem is feminine singular, so you use cinzenta (not the masculine cinzento). The form cinza is also used in Brazil or as a noun meaning “ashes,” but in Portugal cinzento(a) is the preferred adjective.

What does the preposition sobre convey here?

Sobre means over or on top of in this context. It indicates position above the city. It’s more general and sometimes more formal than em cima de, which suggests direct contact or “right on top.”

Could I say em cima da cidade instead of sobre a cidade?

You can say em cima da cidade, but that often implies the cloud is touching or covering the city directly. Sobre a cidade is more neutral—a cloud hanging over the city—and is the usual expression.

Why include the article a in sobre a cidade?

Portuguese normally uses definite articles before singular, specific nouns, even when we talk abstractly. Sobre a cidade means over the city, not just any city, but the (definite) city we have in mind.

How do you pronounce há versus the article a?

Há has a stressed open /a/ sound, like the “a” in father, and carries the meaning there is. The article a is often weaker, pronounced as a reduced vowel /ɐ/ or, in careful speech, a shorter /a/.