Grammar fix
it's bucketing down
raining extremely heavily
(mainly British, informal) Raining extremely heavily.
Hear it in context
Notice where the phrase sounds natural.
It was bucketing down when the match was called off.
I remember getting stuck in traffic once when it was bucketing down, and a journey that normally takes twenty minutes took nearly an hour.
Fix the pattern
One small grammar move makes it sound right.
Which sounds natural?
Tap the one a native speaker would say.
This vivid informal chunk is common in speech; the stiff version belongs in a formal report.
Say it together
Whole chunks natives use with it.
it's been bucketing down all ___
It's been bucketing down all day, so the match is off.
It's been bucketing down all morning and the garden's flooded.
Don't confuse it
How heavy?
Weather · Rain: the words around “it's bucketing down”.
- spitting
- drizzlelight rain
- shower
- heavy rain
- pouringbucketing down
it's bucketing down Even more dramatic than pouring. Informal British; "chucking it down" means the same.
Learners often say
Not: It's bucketing rain down.
Say: It's bucketing down.
The fixed expression does not take 'rain' between 'bucketing' and 'down'.
More connectionsSame word, different world · More rain words · Chunks5
Same word, different world
More rain words
Say it in the rain
get caught in the rain
I got caught in the rain on my way back from lunch.
it looks like rain
It looks like rain, so let's bring the washing in.