Weather Terms Used in Daily Conversation

Weather Vocabulary

In today’s article, we will learn some expressions related to weather! Also, we will introduce some sentence patterns for you to construct sentences related to the weather topic. Let’s begin!

晴天(qing2 tian1, sunny day)

Observe the radical for 晴(qing2), it is the 日(ri4) or what we call the sun radical. This character means the weather is fine and the sky is clear. Combined with 天(tian1, sky), it means sunny. For example:

• 今天是晴天。

  jin1 tian1 shi4 qing2 tian1.

  Today is a sunny day.

阴天(yin1 tian1, overcast day)

If you heard the Chinese philosophical word 阴阳(yin1 yang2, Yin and Yang) before, 阴(yin1) represents the negative principle in nature. Therefore, when the sky becomes dark and cloudy, we call the day as 阴天(yin1 tian1). For example:

• 今天是阴天。

  jin1 tian1 shi4 yin1 tian1.

  Today is cloudy with an overcast sky.

多云(duo1 yun2, cloudy)

When we use 阴天(yin1 tian1), it means the sky is gloomy and cloudy and it is about to rain. However, when we use 多云(duo1 yun2), it simply means that there are many clouds in the sky. 多(duo1) means many or much while 云(yun2) is a noun for the cloud. For example:

• 今天多云。

  jin1 tian1 duo1 yun2.

  Today is cloudy.

下雨(xia4 yu3, raining)

下(xia4) can be a direction word meaning “down”. However, when it’s combined with 雨(yu3, rain), it functions as a verb. For example:

• 昨天下雨了。

  zuo2 tian1 xia4 yu3 le0.

  It was raining yesterday.

If the rain is small, you can call it “小雨(xiao3 yu3, light rain/drizzle). If the rain is big, you can call it “大雨(da4 yu3, pouring rain)”. For example:

• 今天下小雨。

  jin1 tian1 xia4 xiao3 yu3.

  Today it will be drizzling.

• 今天下大雨。

  jin1 tian1 xia4 da4 yu3.

  Today there will be a huge rain.

To make the above sentences past tense, simply add the grammar particle “了(le)” at the back of the entire sentence. i.e. “今天下小雨了。” or “今天下大雨了。”

气温(qi4 wen1, air temperature)

气(qi4) in Chinese means the air, while 温(wen1) means temperature. In China, we use the degree Celsius, known as 度(du4), as the unit of measurement. For example:

• 今天气温多少度？

  jin1 tian1 qi4 wen1 duo1 shao3 du4?

  What’s the air temperature for today in degrees Celsius?

• 今天气温二十三度。

  jin1 tian1 qi4 wen1 er4 shi2 san1 du4.

  Today’s temperature is 23°C.

If the air temperature is below zero degrees Celsius, we will use 零下(ling2 xia4) to signal that the temperature is below zero. 零(ling2) means zero and 下(xia4) means below. For example:

• 今天气温零下十度。

  jin1 tian1 qi4 wen1 ling2 xia4 shi2 du4.

  Today’s temperature is below zero.

刮大风(gua1 da4 feng1, blowing a gale)

风(feng1) in Chinese means wind and 大风(da4 feng1) would mean a gale. 刮(gua1) is the verb for it, which means to blow. For example:

• 今天会刮大风。

  jin1 tian1 hui4 gua1 da4 feng1.

  Today it will be very windy.

Hope these words and sentences can help you conduct a smooth conversation with others on the topic of weather. Stay tuned to our blog for more Chinese learning posts. Do send us an email if you are interested in learning Mandarin Chinese in Singapore! See you in the next post.