Weather and Seasons in Chinese

Overview

Weather (天气, tiānqì) and seasons (季节, jìjié) are common daily conversation topics in Chinese. Weather descriptions use adjective predicates (今天很热, today is hot) and weather verbs (下雨, rain; 下雪, snow). The four seasons are named with the character 天 (tiān): 春天, 夏天, 秋天, 冬天.

At the CEFR A1 level, weather vocabulary provides natural practice for adjective predicates, sentence-final 了 for change of state, and descriptive sentences. Weather talk is also an important social function, serving as a common conversation opener.

Chinese weather expressions are quite regular: temperature uses 热 (hot) and 冷 (cold), precipitation uses 下 + type (下雨 = rain falls, 下雪 = snow falls), and wind uses 刮风 (wind blows).

How It Works

Seasons

Chinese	Pinyin	Season
春天	chūntiān	spring
夏天	xiàtiān	summer
秋天	qiūtiān	autumn
冬天	dōngtiān	winter

Weather vocabulary

Chinese	Pinyin	Meaning
天气	tiānqì	weather
热	rè	hot
冷	lěng	cold
暖和	nuǎnhuo	warm
凉快	liángkuai	cool
下雨	xià yǔ	rain
下雪	xià xuě	snow
刮风	guā fēng	windy
晴天	qíngtiān	sunny/clear
阴天	yīntiān	cloudy/overcast

Examples in Context

Chinese	Pinyin	English	Note
今天天气怎么样？	Jīntiān tiānqì zěnmeyàng?	How's the weather today?	question
夏天很热，冬天很冷。	Xiàtiān hěn rè, dōngtiān hěn lěng.	Summer is hot, winter is cold.	season description
外面下雨了。	Wàimiàn xià yǔ le.	It's raining outside.	change of state 了
今天比昨天冷。	Jīntiān bǐ zuótiān lěng.	Today is colder than yesterday.	comparison
春天来了。	Chūntiān lái le.	Spring has come.	seasonal change
明天会下雪吗？	Míngtiān huì xià xuě ma?	Will it snow tomorrow?	prediction
天气越来越热了。	Tiānqì yuè lái yuè rè le.	The weather is getting hotter.	gradual change
秋天的天气很凉快。	Qiūtiān de tiānqì hěn liángkuai.	Autumn weather is cool.	description
今天刮大风。	Jīntiān guā dà fēng.	It's very windy today.	wind
带伞吧，可能下雨。	Dài sǎn ba, kěnéng xià yǔ.	Bring an umbrella, it might rain.	suggestion

Common Mistakes

Using 是 for weather descriptions

• Wrong: 今天是很热。
• Right: 今天很热。(Today is hot.)
• Why: Weather uses adjective predicates, not 是 + adjective.

Saying 雨下 instead of 下雨

• Wrong: 雨下了。(Rain fell.)
• Right: 下雨了。(It rained.)
• Why: 下雨 is a fixed verb-object compound; 下 (fall) comes before 雨 (rain).

Forgetting 了 for weather changes

• Wrong: 下雨 (it rains -- sounds habitual)
• Right: 下雨了 (it started raining -- change of state)
• Why: Use sentence-final 了 to indicate the weather has changed.

Practice Tips

• Practice describing today's weather each morning as a daily Chinese exercise.
• Use weather as a conversation starter: 今天天气真好！or 今天好冷啊！
• Learn seasonal descriptions for your region and compare with China's climate.

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