How do you say “It's raining cats and dogs” in German?
The closest natural German equivalent is Es gießt wie aus Eimern, which literally means “It is pouring like out of buckets”. English speakers use it's raining cats and dogs to mean a very large amount of rain is falling quickly from the sky. This is the standard, everyday way a native German speaker describes torrential rain. Unlike the English phrase, it does not sound dated. It is informal, colloquial and common in everyday German.
Closest natural German
Es gießt wie aus Eimern
ɛs ɡiːst viː aʊ̯s ˈaɪ̯mɐn
- Literal meaning
- “It is pouring like out of buckets”
- Register
- informal, colloquial
- How often it's used
- common
- Equivalence
Near-exact equivalent
92 out of 100
What a native German speaker would actually say
While English uses the surreal and historic image of 'cats and dogs' falling from the sky, German relies on a more intuitive physical metaphor: water tipping out of buckets ('wie aus Eimern'). Another well-known German idiom is 'Es regnet Bindfäden' (it is raining twine), which visually mirrors dense sheets of vertical rain, but 'gießen/schütten wie aus Eimern' is far more prevalent when describing the sheer volume of a downpour.
A key difference between the two expressions lies in their currency. 'Raining cats and dogs' is often perceived by younger English speakers as somewhat dated, clichéd, or mainly taught in ESL textbooks. In contrast, 'Es gießt wie aus Eimern' remains entirely standard and natural across all demographics in modern colloquial German.
How close is the meaning?
- Meaning5 out of 5
- Tone4 out of 5
- Context5 out of 5
- Literal similarity1 out of 5
These ratings are editorial approximations, not measurements.
What are other ways to say it in German?
Es schüttet wie aus Eimern
Literally: “It pours like out of buckets”
Virtually interchangeable with 'gießen' and just as common.
Es regnet Bindfäden
Literally: “It is raining pieces of twine”
Refers to thick, steady rain; shares the slightly whimsical, older feel of the English idiom.
Es kübelt
Literally: “It is bucketing”
Short, punchy, very informal slang.
Don't translate it literally
Es regnet Hunde und Katzen
A direct translation of the English idiom that sounds completely nonsensical to native German speakers.
Word-for-word versions like these are understood as literal statements in German, not as expressions.
In context
English
Don't go outside right now; it's raining cats and dogs!
German
Geh jetzt bloß nicht raus, es gießt wie aus Eimern!
English
We had to cancel the barbecue because it was raining cats and dogs.
German
Wir mussten das Grillen absagen, weil es wie aus Eimern gegossen hat.
Related expressions
Last reviewed 2026-09-11