| Let's take a closer look at the conversation. |
| Do you remember how Karen says, |
| "It's really hot today." |
| 今天真热。 (Jīntiān zhēn rè.) |
| First is 今天 (jīntiān). "Today." 今天. 今天. |
| Next is 真 (zhēn). "Really" or "truly." 真. 真. |
| After that is 热 (rè), "hot." 热 热。 |
| All together, it's 今天真热 (Jīntiān zhēn rè). Literally "today really hot," but it translates as "It's really hot today." |
| 今天真热。 (Jīntiān zhēn rè.) |
| Note when describing something in Chinese, you can think of the adverb as "linking" the subject and adjective. |
| In this sentence, the adverb, 真 (zhēn), acts as a linking word for the subject, 今天 (Jīntiān), and the adjective, 热 (rè). |
| Let's take a closer look at the response. |
| Do you remember how the neighbor says, "Yeah, really hot?" |
| 是啊,真热。 (Shì a, zhēn rè.) |
| First is 是 (shì), translating as, "yes," in this context. 是是。 |
| Next is 啊 (a), the modal particle, which here adds emphasis to the response. 啊 啊。 |
| Together, 是啊 (shì a) translates as a colloquial and emphatic "yeah," or "yes!" in this context. 是啊。 |
| After that, Zhenzhen repeats, 真热 (zhēn rè), "really hot." 真热。 |
| All together, it's 是啊,真热。"Yeah, really hot." |
| 是啊,真热。 |
| The pattern is |
| 今天 (Jīntiān) 真 (zhēn) {weather-related adjective}。 |
| "It's really {weather-related adjective} today." |
| 今天 (Jīntiān) 真 (zhēn) {weather-related adjective}。 |
| To use this pattern, simply replace {weather-related adjective} with another weather-related adjective. |
| Imagine it's cold, 冷 (lěng). 冷 (lěng). 冷 (lěng) |
| Say |
| "It's really cold today." |
| Ready? |
| 今天真冷。(Jīntiān zhēn lěng.) |
| "It's really cold today." |
| 今天真冷。(Jīntiān zhēn lěng.) |
| When the modal particle, 啊 (a), follows a phrase, sentence or statement, it adds emphasis or enthusiasm. |
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