É uma pena não termos mais tempo para descansar.

In this sentence é uses the verb ser, not estar, because:

• Ser is used for:

  • General statements
  • Judgments, evaluations, opinions
  • More permanent or abstract ideas

• Estar is used for:

  • Temporary states
  • Locations
  • Ongoing situations

É uma pena is a fixed, very common expression meaning “It’s a pity / What a shame.”
You are making a general evaluation about the situation, not describing a temporary state of something physically “being sad.” So:

• ✅ É uma pena não termos mais tempo…
• ❌ Está uma pena não termos mais tempo… (sounds wrong / unidiomatic)

Both are possible, but there is a nuance:

• É uma pena…
  Very common and slightly more natural in everyday speech. It’s like English “It’s a pity / It’s a shame.”

• É pena…
  Also correct and common, a bit shorter and sometimes feels a touch more formal or neutral:

  • É pena não termos mais tempo.
  • É pena que ele não venha.

In Portugal, you will hear both É uma pena and É pena, with É uma pena being very natural in speech in this kind of sentence.

Pena is grammatically feminine because of how the noun is classified in Portuguese:

• a pena = the pity / the shame
• uma pena = a pity / a shame

Many abstract nouns in Portuguese are feminine (e.g. a alegria, a tristeza, a sorte, a vontade), but this is largely arbitrary and must be memorized.

You can see the gender agreement in:

• uma pena (feminine article)
• If you added an adjective: É uma grande pena. (adjective grande agrees in form, but here it’s same in both genders)

Termos here is a personal infinitive, not a normal present tense verb.

• não temos = we don’t have (present indicative, finite verb)
• não termos = (for) us not to have / our not having (personal infinitive)

The structure of the sentence is:

• É uma pena (nós) não termos mais tempo para descansar.
  Literally: “It is a pity (for us) not to have more time to rest.”

In English, this corresponds to a clause like:

• It’s a pity that we don’t have more time…
• It’s a shame not to have more time…

In Portuguese (especially in European Portuguese), instead of:

• É uma pena que não temos mais tempo… (acceptable but less elegant) Portuguese often prefers:
• É uma pena não termos mais tempo… (personal infinitive after the evaluation)

The personal infinitive is a special Portuguese form where the infinitive agrees with the subject. It exists in both European and Brazilian Portuguese, but is especially frequent and natural in European Portuguese.

Infinitive of ter:

• ter – impersonal infinitive (no subject specified)
• termos – personal infinitive, 1st person plural (we)
• terem – personal infinitive, 3rd person plural (they)

Rough pattern (for regular verbs):

• falar
  
  • eu: falar
  • tu: falares
  • ele/ela/você: falar
  • nós: falarmos
  • eles/elas/vocês: falarem

In our sentence:

• Subject (implied): nós
• Verb: ter → termos

É uma pena não termos mais tempo…
= “It’s a pity (for us) not to have more time…”

You can say that, and it will be understood, but:

• In European Portuguese, after expressions of emotion or evaluation (é uma pena, é bom, é importante, é possível, etc.), the more natural patterns are:
  • É uma pena não termos mais tempo… (personal infinitive – very natural)
  • É uma pena que não tenhamos mais tempo… (subjunctive – also correct, slightly more formal)

So, comparing:

• ✅ É uma pena não termos mais tempo… (most natural here)
• ✅ É uma pena que não tenhamos mais tempo… (correct, more “grammar-book” style)
• ⚠️ É uma pena que não temos mais tempo…
  — understandable, but sounds less idiomatic in careful European Portuguese.

Here tempo is used in a general, abstract sense (“time in general, more time available”) rather than a specific, defined block of time.

Compare:

• não temos mais tempo
  = “we don’t have more time (in general / enough time)”
• não temos mais o tempo
  → sounds like a specific time previously mentioned, e.g. “We no longer have the (previously mentioned) time.”

In practice:

• Talking about time as a resource in general → usually without article:
  • Não tenho tempo. – I don’t have time.
  • Precisamos de mais tempo. – We need more time.

So mais tempo fits this “general/quantity” usage.

All of these are possible, but they are not identical:

1. para descansar

   • Infinitive without a marked subject
   • General purpose: “to rest / in order to rest”
   • The subject is understood from context (we, from não termos)

2. para descansarmos (personal infinitive)

   • Explicitly marks we as the subject of descansar
   • É uma pena não termos mais tempo para descansarmos.
     → “It’s a pity we don’t have more time for us to rest.”

In everyday European Portuguese, para descansar here is perfectly natural, because:

• the subject is already clear from não termos,
• and speakers often keep only one verb in the personal infinitive, not both.

para descansar-mos with a hyphen is simply wrong spelling. Personal infinitives do not attach pronouns with a hyphen; -mos here is not a pronoun, it’s just the ending of the verb (descansar → descansarmos).

Both are understandable, but they’re used differently:

• mais tempo

  • Literally “more time”
  • Very common, neutral, and natural in this context
  • Refers to additional time in general

• tempo extra

  • Feels more specific / technical or context-based
  • Common in contexts like sports (extra time in a match), schedules, or formal plans

In this sentence, mais tempo is the idiomatic, everyday choice:

• É uma pena não termos mais tempo para descansar.
  Sounds completely natural.
• É uma pena não termos tempo extra para descansar.
  Understandable, but sounds more like a special “extra time slot,” less like natural conversation.

No. That word order is not natural or correct in Portuguese.

Rules relevant here:

• The negation word não normally comes directly before the verb it negates.
• The sequence in this structure is:
  • não
    • personal infinitive → não termos

So the natural order is:

• ✅ não termos mais tempo
  → não (negation) + termos (verb) + mais tempo (object + quantifier)

The version:

• ❌ termos não mais tempo
  breaks this standard pattern and sounds wrong to native speakers.

The sentence:

• É uma pena não termos mais tempo para descansar.

is perfectly fine in both European Portuguese (EP) and Brazilian Portuguese (BP). However:

• The personal infinitive (termos) is:
  • Very natural and frequent in European Portuguese.
  • Used in Brazilian Portuguese as well, but everyday speech in Brazil might sometimes favor other constructions, such as:
    • É uma pena que a gente não tenha mais tempo para descansar.

If you are specifically learning Portuguese from Portugal, your sentence is exactly the kind of structure you should get used to and imitate.