Learn how to give an opinion about the weather
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| Welcome to Can-Do Chinese by ChineseClass101.com. |
| In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about the weather in Chinese. |
| For example, "It's really hot today." is |
| 今天真热。(Jīntiān zhēn rè.) |
| Anna Xu sees her neighbor, Zhenzhen Zhou , and starts a conversation about the weather. |
| Before you hear their conversation, let's preview some of its key components. |
| 今天 (jīntiān) |
| "today" |
| 今天 |
| 今天 |
| 热 (rè) |
| "hot" |
| 热 |
| 热 |
| Listen to the conversation, and focus on Anna 's comment. |
| Ready? |
| 今天真热。 (Jīntiān zhēn rè.) |
| 是啊，真热。 (Shì a, zhēn rè.) |
| Listen again, with the English translation. |
| 今天真热。 (Jīntiān zhēn rè.) |
| "It's really hot today." |
| 是啊，真热。 (Shì a, zhēn rè.) |
| "Yeah, really hot." |
| Let’s break down the conversation. |
| Do you remember how Anna 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。(Shì a, zhēn rè.) "Yeah, really hot." |
| 是啊，真热。(Shì a, zhēn rè.) |
| 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. |
| Again, the key 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。 |
| Let’s look at some more examples. |
| Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers. |
| 今天真热。 (Jīntiān zhēn rè.) |
| “It’s really hot today.” |
| 今天真热。 (Jīntiān zhēn rè.) |
| 今天真冷。(Jīntiān zhēn lěng.) |
| “It’s really cold today.” |
| 今天真冷。(Jīntiān zhēn lěng.) |
| 今天真暖和。(Jīntiān zhēn nuǎnhuo.) |
| “It’s really warm today.” |
| 今天真暖和。(Jīntiān zhēn nuǎnhuo.) |
| 今天真凉快。 (Jīntiān zhēn liángkuai.) |
| “It’s really cool today” |
| 今天真凉快。 (Jīntiān zhēn liángkuai.) |
| 天气真好。(Tiānqì zhēn hǎo.) |
| “The weather is really nice.” |
| 天气真好。(Tiānqì zhēn hǎo.) |
| Did you notice how the native speaker used a different pattern? |
| 天气真好。(Tiānqì zhēn hǎo.) |
| "The weather is really nice." |
| 天气真好。(Tiānqì zhēn hǎo.) |
| First is 天气 (tiānqì) "weather." 天气 . 天气。 |
| Next is, 真 (zhēn). "really." 真。 |
| After that is, 好 (hǎo), "good," or "nice." 好 好。 |
| All together, it's 天气真好 (Tiānqì zhēn hǎo.). Literally, "weather really nice," but it translates as "The weather is really nice." |
| This pattern is: |
| 天气真 (Tiānqì zhēn) WEATHER-RELATED ADJECTIVE。 |
| "The weather is really WEATHER-RELATED ADJECTIVE." |
| Let's review the key vocabulary. |
| 暖和。(Nuǎnhuo.) |
| "warm" |
| 暖和 . 暖和。 |
| 凉快。(Liángkuai.) |
| "cool" |
| 凉快 . 凉快。 |
| 天气。(Tiānqì.) |
| "weather." |
| 天气 . 天气。 |
| 好。(Hǎo.) |
| "good." |
| 好 . 好。 |
| Let's review. |
| Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the native speaker, focusing on pronunciation. |
| Ready? |
| Do you remember how to say "hot?" |
| 热 (rè) |
| 热 (rè) |
| And how to say "really?" |
| 真 (zhēn) |
| 真 (zhēn) |
| And do you remember how Anna Xu says, |
| "It's really hot today." |
| 今天真热。 (Jīntiān zhēn rè.) |
| 今天真热。 (Jīntiān zhēn rè.) |
| Do you remember how to emphatically say "yeah?" |
| 是啊 (shì a) |
| 是啊 (shì a) |
| Do you remember how Zhenzhen Zhou says, |
| "Yeah, really hot." |
| 是啊，真热。 (Shì a, zhēn rè.) |
| 是啊，真热。 (Shì a, zhēn rè.) |
| Do you remember how to say "cold?" |
| 冷 (lěng) |
| 冷 (lěng) |
| And how to say "warm?" |
| 暖和 (nuǎnhuo) |
| 暖和 (nuǎnhuo) |
| Do you remember how to say "weather?" |
| 天气 (tiānqì) |
| 天气 (tiānqì) |
| And how to say "nice?" |
| 好 (hǎo) |
| 好 (hǎo) |
| Let's practice. |
| Imagine you're Zhenzhen . Comment to Anna on how cold it is today. |
| Ready? |
| 今天真冷。(Jīntiān zhēn lěng.) |
| 是啊，真冷。 (Shì a, zhēn lěng.) |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| 今天真冷。(Jīntiān zhēn lěng.) |
| 今天真冷。(Jīntiān zhēn lěng.) |
| Let’s try another. |
| Imagine you're Xianwen Xu . Comment to your neighbor on how warm it is today. |
| Ready? |
| 今天真暖和。(Jīntiān zhēn nuǎnhuo.) |
| 是啊，真暖和。 (Shì a, zhēn nuǎnhuo.) |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| 今天真暖和。(Jīntiān zhēn nuǎnhuo.) |
| 今天真暖和。(Jīntiān zhēn nuǎnhuo.) |
| Let’s try one more. |
| Imagine you're Lisa Xu . Comment to your classmate on the really nice weather. |
| Ready? |
| 天气真好 (Tiānqì zhēn hǎo.) |
| 是啊，真好。 (Shì a, zhēn hǎo.) |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| 天气真好 (Tiānqì zhēn hǎo.) |
| 天气真好 (Tiānqì zhēn hǎo.) |
| Well done! This is the end of this lesson. |
| In this lesson, you learned how to give an opinion about the weather, an essential skill for talking about the weather. |
| Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills. |
| What's next? |
| Show us what you can do. |
| When you're ready, take your assessment. |
| You can take it again and again, so try anytime you like. |
| Our teachers will assess it, and give you your results. |
| Keep practicing — and move on to the next lesson! |
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