Learn how to talk about basic weather conditions
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| Welcome to Can-Do Chinese by ChineseClass101.com. |
| In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about weather conditions in Chinese. |
| For example, "It's raining." is |
| 在下雨。(Zài xiàyǔ.) |
| Anna Xu is in rainy Beijing. |
| She’s on a long-distance call with Xiaoyun Xu , her former colleague, who asks about the current weather. |
| Before you hear their conversation, let's preview some of its key components. |
| 天气 (tiānqì) |
| "weather" |
| 天气 |
| 天气 |
| 下雨 (xiàyǔ) |
| "rain" |
| 下雨 |
| 下雨 |
| Listen to the conversation, and focus on the response. |
| Ready? |
| 天气怎么样？ (Tiānqì zěnmeyàng?) |
| 在下雨。 (Zài xiàyǔ.) |
| Once more with the English translation. |
| 天气怎么样？ (Tiānqì zěnmeyàng?) |
| "How's the weather?" |
| 在下雨。 (Zài xiàyǔ.) |
| "It's raining." |
| Let’s break down the conversation. |
| Do you remember how Xiaoyun Xu asks, |
| "How's the weather?" |
| 天气怎么样？ (Tiānqì zěnmeyàng?) |
| First is, 天气 (tiānqì), "weather." 天气 . 天气。 |
| Next is 怎么样 (zěnmeyàng). "how [is]," in this context, as in "how is the weather." 怎么样 . 怎么样。 |
| Together, 天气怎么样？(Tiānqì zěnmeyàng?) literally, "Weather how [is]" but translates as "How's the weather?" |
| 天气怎么样？(Tiānqì zěnmeyàng?) |
| Now, let's take a closer look at the response. |
| Do you remember how Anna says |
| "It's raining." |
| 在下雨。(Zài xiàyǔ.) |
| First is 在 (zài), which literally means "at." However, when 在 is followed by a verb, it’s like the -ing, as in “raining.” It indicates the progressive tense, describing an ongoing action. 在 . 在。 |
| Here, 在 (zài) is followed by 下雨 (xiàyǔ), which means "to rain." 下雨 |
| It can be divided into two parts. |
| First is 下 (xià), "to come down," in this context. 下. 下. |
| Next is 雨 (yǔ), "rain." 雨. 雨. |
| Together, 下雨 (xiàyǔ) "to rain." 下雨。 |
| Altogether, 在下雨。(Zài xiàyǔ.) Translates as, "It's raining." |
| 在下雨。(Zài xiàyǔ.) |
| The key pattern is |
| 在 (Zài) WEATHER-RELATED VERB。 |
| "It's WEATHER-RELATED VERB-ing." |
| 在 (Zài) WEATHER-RELATED VERB。 |
| To use this pattern, simply replace the WEATHER-RELATED VERB with a verb phrase to describe what is going on with the current weather condition. |
| Imagine you're in Harbin, and it's snowing. 下雪 (xiàxuě). 下雪 . 下雪。 |
| Say |
| "It's snowing." |
| Ready? |
| 在下雪。(Zài xiàxuě.) |
| "It's snowing." |
| 在下雪。 |
| When using 怎么样 (zěnmeyàng) to ask how something is in Chinese, the pattern is subject plus 怎么样. |
| In the conversation, 天气 (tiānqì), the subject, plus 怎么样 (zěnmeyàng)？ 天气 怎么样？(Tiānqì zěnmeyàng?) |
| "How’s the weather?" |
| Again, the key pattern is |
| 在 (Zài) WEATHER-RELATED VERB。 |
| "It's WEATHER-RELATED VERB-ing." |
| 在 (Zài) WEATHER-RELATED VERB。 |
| Let’s look at some more examples. |
| Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers. |
| 在下雨。 (Zài xiàyǔ.) |
| “It’s raining.” |
| 在下雨。 |
| 在下雪。 (Zài xiàxuě.) |
| “It’s snowing.” |
| 在下雪。 |
| 在出太阳。 (Zài chū tàiyáng.) |
| “The sun is out.” |
| 在出太阳。 |
| 在刮风。 (Zài guāfēng.) |
| “The wind is blowing.” |
| 在刮风。 |
| 今天在下雨。(Jīntiān zài xiàyǔ.) |
| “It’s raining today.” |
| 今天在下雨。(Jīntiān zài xiàyǔ.) |
| Did you notice the native speaker added the word 今天 (jīntiān)? |
| 今天在下雨。(Jīntiān zài xiàyǔ.) |
| "It's raining today." |
| First is, 今天 (Jīntiān), “today.” 今天. 今天. |
| Next is 在 (zài). when 在 is followed by a verb, it’s like the -ing, as in “raining.” 在。 |
| After this is 下雨 (xiàyǔ) "to rain." 下雨。 |
| Together, 在下雨 (zài xiàyǔ.) “[it] is raining.” 在下雨. |
| Note: the “it” is not used in Chinese. |
| All together, 今天 在下雨。(Jīntiān zài xiàyǔ.) Translating as, "It's raining today." 今天 在下雨。 |
| Let’s try another. |
| Imagine it's snowing today, |
| 今天在下雪。(Jīntiān zài xiàxuě.) "It's snowing today." 今天在下雪。 |
| Let’s review the key vocabulary and phrases. |
| 出 (chū) means "to come out." 出 . 出。 |
| 太阳 (tàiyáng), "sun." 太阳 . 太阳。 |
| 出太阳 (chū tàiyáng),"sun comes out." 出太阳 . 出太阳。 |
| 下 (xià) "to go down." 下 . 下 |
| 雪 (xuě) "snow" 雪 . 雪 |
| 下雪 (xiàxuě) "to snow" 下雪 . 下雪 |
| 刮 (guā) "to blow." 刮 . 刮. |
| 刮风 (guāfēng) "wind blows." 刮风 . 刮风. |
| 今天 (jīntiān) means "today." 今天 . 今天。 |
| 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 "to rain?" |
| 下雨 (xiàyǔ) |
| 下雨 (xiàyǔ) |
| Do you remember how Anna Xu says, |
| "It's raining" |
| 在下雨。 (Zài xiàyǔ.) |
| 在下雨。 (Zài xiàyǔ.) |
| Do you remember how to say "weather?" |
| 天气 (tiānqì) |
| 天气 (tiānqì) |
| Do you remember how Xiaoyun Xu asks, |
| "How's the weather?" |
| 天气怎么样？ (Tiānqì zěnme yàng?) |
| 天气怎么样？ (Tiānqì zěnme yàng?) |
| Do you remember how to say "to snow?" |
| 下雪 (xiàxuě) |
| 下雪 (xiàxuě) |
| And how to say "sun comes out?" |
| 出太阳 (chū tàiyáng) |
| 出太阳 (chū tàiyáng) |
| Do you remember how to say "today?" |
| 今天 (jīntiān) |
| 今天 (jīntiān) |
| Let's practice. |
| Imagine you’re Zheng Zhu in Harbin, where it’s snowing, or 下雪 (xiàxuě). |
| Respond to the question. |
| Ready? |
| 天气怎么样？ (Tiānqì zěnme yàng?) |
| 在下雪。 (Zài xiàxuě.) |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| 在下雪。 (Zài xiàxuě.) |
| 在下雪。 (Zài xiàxuě.) |
| Let’s try another. |
| Imagine you’re Xiaoyun Xu in Guangzhou, where the sun is out, or 出太阳 (chū tàiyáng). |
| Ready? |
| 天气怎么样？ (Tiānqì zěnme yàng?) |
| 在出太阳。 (Zài chū tàiyáng.) |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| 在出太阳。 (Zài chū tàiyáng.) |
| 在出太阳。 (Zài chū tàiyáng.) |
| Let’s try one more. |
| Imagine you’re Anna Xu , and it’s raining today, or 下雨 (xiàyǔ). |
| Ready? |
| 天气怎么样？ (Tiānqì zěnme yàng?) |
| 今天在下雨。 (Jīntiān zài xiàyǔ.) |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| 今天在下雨。 (Jīntiān zài xiàyǔ.) |
| 今天在下雨。 (Jīntiān zài xiàyǔ.) |
| In this lesson, you learned how to talk about weather in Chinese. This plays an essential role in the larger skill of talking about the weather. Let’s review. |
| Do you remember how to say "hot?" |
| 热 (rè) |
| 热 (rè) |
| And do you remember how to say "today?" |
| 今天 (jīntiān) |
| 今天 (jīntiān) |
| Do you remember how to say, |
| "It’s really hot today." |
| 今天真热。(Jīntiān zhēn rè.) |
| 今天真热。(Jīntiān zhēn rè.) |
| Do you remember how to say "It’s snowing." in Chinese? |
| 在下雪 (Zài xiàxuě.) |
| 在下雪 (Zài xiàxuě.) |
| Imagine you're Jack Jones , and it's warm outside. |
| Do you remember how to say "warm" in Chinese? |
| 暖和 (nuǎnhuo) |
| 暖和 (nuǎnhuo) |
| Now, tell your friend that it's warm. |
| 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.) |
| On a different occasion you're traveling in the mountains and talking with your friend on the phone. Your friend asks how the weather is, and it's snowy. |
| Do you remember how to say "to snow" in Chinese? |
| 下雪 (xiàxuě) |
| 下雪 (xiàxuě) |
| Respond to your friend and say it's snowy. |
| 天气怎么样？ (Tiānqì zěnme yàng?) |
| 在下雪。 (Zài xiàxuě.)。 |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| 在下雪。 (Zài xiàxuě.) |
| 在下雪。 (Zài xiàxuě.) |
| Well done! This is the end of the lesson and the Can Talk About the Weather unit of this course. |
| 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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