Learn Portuguese (Portugal): O sul tem muito sol.

In Portuguese, using the verb ter (to have) is a very common way to describe the weather or climate of a place. While in English you might say "It's sunny in the south", in Portuguese you literally say "The south has much sun".

Does muito change depending on the word it goes with?

Yes! When muito means "a lot of" or "much", it acts like an adjective and must match the noun it describes. Since sol (sun) is a masculine singular noun, we use muito. If we were talking about rain (chuva, which is feminine), we would say muita chuva.

Sul and sol look very similar. How different is their pronunciation?

They are distinguished entirely by their vowels. Sul (south) uses a closed "oo" sound, similar to "soup" in English. Sol (sun) uses an open "o" sound, similar to the vowel in the English word "saw".

Do compass directions like sul always take the word o (the)?

Yes, in Portuguese, points of the compass and geographic regions almost always take a definite article. You will consistently see o sul (the south), o norte (the north), o este (the east), and o oeste (the west).