Learn Portuguese (Portugal): Hoje é um dia bonito.

In Portuguese, most words ending in "-a" are feminine, but dia is a famous exception. It is a masculine noun, which is why we must use the masculine word for "a" (um) and the masculine form of the adjective "beautiful" (bonito).

Why do we use é (from the verb ser) instead of está (from the verb estar)? Isn't the weather temporary?

That's a great question! While we do use estar for temporary weather conditions (like o dia está bonito - "the day is beautiful right now"), this sentence does something different. It links a subject to a noun phrase (um dia). Whenever you say "is a [noun]", you always use ser. Therefore, "is a beautiful day" requires é.

Why does bonito come after dia?

In English, we say "beautiful day" (adjective then noun). In Portuguese, descriptive adjectives usually come after the noun they are describing. So, the order becomes dia bonito (literally "day beautiful").

How does this use of é tie into our lesson on telling time?