Dialogue

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Start speaking Chinese in minutes and grasp the language, culture and customs in just minutes more with Chinese survival phrases, a completely new way to master the basics of Chinese. To get more Chinese lessons and for free, go to chineseclass101.com and sign up for your free lifetime account. Signing up takes less than a minute and you will find more great lessons just like this one. To get more free Chinese lessons, go to chineseclass101.com
Guys, today we are going to talk about the weather. The weather is extremely important if you are traveling. You want to be prepared for whatever weather is going to come and the first step in doing that is knowing what the weather is going to be tomorrow. So today’s phrase is, what will the weather be like tomorrow. In Chinese, this is 明天的天气怎么样(Míngtiān de tiānqì zěnme yàng?) Little bit slower, 明天的天气怎么样(Míngtiān de tiānqì zěnme yàng?). One more time, 明天的天气怎么样(Míngtiān de tiānqì zěnme yàng?) All right, syllable by syllable, tone by tone, 明(míng), second tone, rising tone,明(míng). 天(tiān), first tone, flat tone, 天(tiān). 的(de), no tone, 的(de). 天(tiān), first tone again, flat tone, 天(tiān). 气(qì), fourth tone, falling tone, 气(qì). 怎(zěn), third tone, that falling, rising tone, 怎(zěn). 么(me), no tone on 么(me). 样(yàng), fourth tone, falling tone, 样(yàng). 明天的天气怎么样(Míngtiān de tiānqì zěnme yàng?) So the meaning word by word is, 明天(míng tiān), tomorrow. Remember second tone and first tone, 明天(míng tiān). 的(de), this is the possessive particle, 的(de), no tone. 天气(tiān qì) which means weather, first tone and fourth tone, 天气(tiān qì). 怎么(zěnme) which means how, third tone and no tone, 怎么(zěnme) and then 样(yàng) which means kind or shape and then 样(yàng) which means kind, 样(yàng), fourth tone. Together, 怎么样(zěnme yàng) means what kind of or how is it going to be, 怎么样(zěnme yàng). You can say your day 怎么样(zěnme yàng) and it means how was your day, 怎么样(zěnme yàng). So altogether the literal meaning is, tomorrow’s, remember it’s possessive, tomorrow’s weather what kind, 明天的天气怎么样(Míngtiān de tiānqì zěnme yàng?) Now if this is going to be useful at all, you need to be able to understand the answer. So let’s say it’s going to rain tomorrow, your answer will be 下雨(xià yǔ), that means rain falling, 下雨(xià yǔ). The tones are fourth tone, 下(xià) and then third tone, the falling rising tone, 雨(yǔ), 下雨(xià yǔ), literally this means falling rain, 下(xià) means down or to fall and 雨(yǔ) means rain. When they say it’s going to rain, they say 下雨(xià yǔ), so literally, 下雨(xià yǔ) means fall rain or down rain which means rain will come down tomorrow 下雨(xià yǔ). In this case, in response to your question it will mean rain will come down tomorrow or it’s going to rain tomorrow, 下雨(xià yǔ). The answer you are hoping for is 晴天(qíng tiān), this means clear skies, 晴天(qíng tiān). First word, second tone 晴(qíng) and then second word in first tone 天(tiān), 晴天(qíng tiān). 晴(qíng) means clear and 天(tiān) means sky, so clear skies, 晴天(qíng tiān). All right, this is what you are hoping for, clear skies and nice day. Another answer that they might give that you would definitely like to hear is 天气很好(Tiānqì hěn hǎo.) that means the weather is good, 天气很好(Tiānqì hěn hǎo.). 天(tiān), first tone, 天(tiān). 气(qì), fourth tone, falling tone, 气(qì). 很(hěn), third tone, falling rising tone, 很(hěn). 好(hǎo) also third tone, the falling rising tone, 好(hǎo). So because there are two third tones in a row, that first third tone becomes a second tone, the rising tone, 很好(hén hǎo). So 天气很好(Tiānqì hén hǎo.), this means weather, 天气(Tiānqì), 很(hěn), very, 好(hǎo), good, weather very good, 天气很好(Tiānqì hén hǎo.). And in your case, as an answer to your question, it means the weather will be very good, 天气很好(Tiānqì hén hǎo.) All right, to close our today’s lesson, we’d like you to practice what we’ve just learned. I will provide you with the English equivalent of a phrase and you are responsible for shouting it out loud. You will have a few seconds before I give you the answer. So 加油(Jiā yóu!). It’s raining or it will rain, 下雨(xià yǔ). What will the weather be like tomorrow, 明天的天气怎么样(Míngtiān de tiānqì zěnme yàng?). Clear skies, 晴天(qíng tiān). Good weather or the weather is good or the weather will be good, 天气很好(Tiānqì hén hǎo.).
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