How to Give an Opinion About the Weather

Learn how to give an opinion about the weather

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Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

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

热 (rè)

"hot"

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)

And how to say "really?"

真 (zhēn)

And do you remember how Anna Xu says,

"It's really hot today."

今天真热。 (Jīntiān zhēn rè.)

Do you remember how to emphatically say "yeah?"

是啊 (shì a)

Do you remember how Zhenzhen Zhou says,

"Yeah, really hot."

是啊，真热。 (Shì a, zhēn rè.)

Do you remember how to say "cold?"

冷 (lěng)

And how to say "warm?"

暖和 (nuǎnhuo)

Do you remember how to say "weather?"

天气 (tiānqì)

And how to say "nice?"

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.)

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.)

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.)

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.

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