Here in Wales, where we live, it rains quite a lot, as you can imagine. But since today is a rare sunny day, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to dive into the ever-relevant Italian verb piovere (to rain)!
piovere
to rain

Piovere is an -ERE verb that is only ever conjugated in the third person singular (piove), and occasionally in the third person plural (piovono) as we’ll discover further below.
Oggi dovrebbe piovere tutto il giorno.
It should rain all day today.
Non piove da mesi.
It hasn’t rained in months.
Piovere is an example of what is known as an impersonal verb—meaning it lacks a specific subject. These verbs are commonly used to describe weather conditions. Other examples, besides piovere, include nevicare (to snow), grandinare (to hail), and diluviare (to pour).
If you want to say that it’s raining at this very moment, you can simply use piove, or opt for the continuous form sta piovendo (it is raining).
Mamma mia, sta piovendo forte!
Wow, it’s raining heavily!
Strictly speaking, impersonal verbs like piovere are supposed to take essere (to be) as their auxiliary. However, in recent years, it is becoming increasingly acceptable to use avere (to have) instead. This means that you are likely to hear all of the following forms:
- è piovuto / ha piovuto = it rained
- sarà piovuto / avrà piovuto = it will have rained
- sarebbe piovuto / avrebbe piovuto = it would have rained
Mario mi ha detto che è piovuto tutta la notte.
Mario told me that it rained all night.
There are lots of different ways to describe the intensity of la pioggia (the rain) as you can see below:
- piove a dirotto = it’s pouring
- piove come Dio la manda = it rains cats and dogs
- piove a catinelle = it’s pouring
Sometimes, piovere can be used to describe things falling from the sky other than rain, such as leaves. It can also be used figuratively to describe something that arrives suddenly or unexpectedly, and in large quantities—like problems, gifts, letters, and more.
Mi sono piovuti addosso centinaia di messaggi.
I was bombarded with hundreds of messages.

Idiomatic expressions using ‘piovere’
Piove sul bagnato
Literal translation: it rains on the wet
English meaning: when it rains, it pours
Non ci piove!
Literal translation: It doesn’t rain on it!
English meaning: Without a doubt!
Piovere dal cielo
Literal translation: To rain from the sky
English meaning: Someone or something that arrives unexpectedly
Piove, governo ladro!
Literal translation: It’s raining, thieving government!
English meaning: The expression pokes fun at the typically Italian tendency to blame the government for everything—even a natural event like the rain.
Heather Broster is a graduate with honours in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario. She is an aspiring polyglot, proficient in English and Italian, as well as Japanese, Welsh, and French to varying degrees of fluency. Originally from Toronto, Heather has resided in various countries, notably Italy for a period of six years. Her primary focus lies in the fields of language acquisition, education, and bilingual instruction.