Chinese Lesson: Talk about the Weather

Asking about the weather is one of the most common ways to break the ice with a stranger. It’s polite way to greet a new person and open a conversation. For language learners, that means an easy entry point to authentic dialogues in Mandarin Chinese—which means more practice and faster fluency.

 

Chinese Weather Phrases and Questions

 

What’s the weather forecast today? 今天的天气预报怎么说? (jīn tiān de tiān qì yù bào zěn me shuō?)

An expansion of this phrase could also be: What’s the weather forecast for this week? 这个星期的天气预报怎么说? (zhè ge xīng qī de tiān qì yù bào zěn me shuō?)

This is by far the best opener when talking about the weather. Quick, simple, clear and to the point!

 

What’s the weather like in…? …的天气怎么样? (… de tiān qì zěn me yàng?)

The weather is bad. 天气不好。(tiān qì bù hǎo)

The weather is good. 天气好。(tiān qì hǎo)

We’ll be covering weather vocabulary words that are a bit more descriptive later in this post, but “good” and “bad” are simple and clear defaults to rely on if you can’t recall an adjective.

 

The sun shines brightly. 阳光明媚。(yáng guāng míng mèi)

This is a common Chinese idiom used to describe a particularly sunny or beautiful day.

 

Today, the weather is… 今天天气… (jīn tiān tiān qì)

Expect this response followed by one of the vocabulary words we’ll be covering below.

 

Chinese Weather Vocabulary Words

 

Temperatures:

Hot: 热 (rè) – 很热。 (hěn rè) – It is very hot.

Warm: 温暖 (wēn nuǎn) – 你在享受这温暖的一天吗? (nǐ zài xiǎng shòu zhè wēn nuǎn de yī tiān ma) – Are you enjoying this warm day?

Cool and pleasant: 凉快 (liáng kuài) – 天气凉快。 (tiān qì liáng kuai) – The weather is cool and pleasant.

Cold: 冷 (lěng) – 今天天气冷。 (jīn tiān tiān qì lěng) – Today, the weather is cold.

 

Weather Events:

Rain/raining: 雨 (yǔ) – 下雨了。 (xià yǔ le) – It is raining.

Snow: 雪 (xuě) – 看看雪! (kàn kàn xuě) – Look at this snow!

Wind/windy: 风 (fēng) – 今天早上有风。 (jīn tiān zǎo shang yǒu fēng) – It is windy this morning.

Fog/foggy: 雾 (wù) – 在这雾中我看不见。(zài zhè wù zhōng wǒ kàn bù jiàn) – I can’t see in this fog.

 

How It Feels or Looks:

Humid/balmy: 潮湿 (cháo shī) – 这是个潮湿的夜晚。 (zhè shì gè cháo​ shī de yè wǎn) – It is a humid night.

Dry: 干 (gān) – 今天空气干燥。 (jīn tiān kōng qì gān zào) – The air is dry today.

Cloudy: 多云 (duō yún) – 今天天气预报多云。 (jīn tiān tiān qì yù bào duō yún) – Today’s weather forecast is cloudy.

 

Seasons:

Winter: 冬天 (dōng tiān) – 这是一个寒冷的冬天。 (zhè shì yī gè hán lěng de dōng tiān) – This is one cold winter.

Summer: 夏天 (xià tiān) – 我爱夏天。 (wǒ ài xià tiān) – I love summer.

Fall: 秋天 (qiū tiān) – 秋天是我最喜欢的季节。(qiū tiān shì wǒ zuì xǐ huān de jì jié) – Fall is my favorite season.

Spring: 春天 (chūn tiān) – 春天是盎然! (chūn tiān shì àng rán) – Spring is in the air! or Spring is abundant!


Post time: Jul-28-2020