21. Dōngtiān lái le! - Winter is here!

你 们 好! Nimen hao!
In this lesson, we will talk about the different seasons of the year and the weather.

Dialog

冬 天 来 了!
Dōngtiān lái le!
Winter is here!

是 的, 天 气 很 冷.
Shì de, tiānqì hěn lěng.
Yes it has, the weather is very cold.

冬 天 下 雪.
Dōngtiān xià xuě.
In the winter it snows.

风 景 很 美!
Fēngjǐng hěn měi!
The landscape is so beautiful!

Vocabulary

dōngtiān 冬 天 = winter (n.)
lái 来 = to come, to arrive (v.)
shì de 是 的 = yes, it is (affirmation)
tiānqì 天 气 = weather (n.)
lěng 冷 = cold (adj.)
xuě 雪 = snow (n.)
xià xuě 下 雪 = to snow (xià = here, to rain, to fall)
fēngjǐng 风 景 = landscape (n.)
měi 美 = beautiful (adj.)

Le (了)
Dōngtiān lái le! This sentence uses the particle le which can denote something that has already happened or a change in circumstances. By saying "winter is here", people refer to a change in weather meaning that just a while ago it was autumn, but now the weather has changed.

The particle le can also denote a past tense with an imperfect aspect. An example using the verb lái, "to come, to arrive" would be tā lái le, meaning "he arrived" (has already arrived), in contrast to tā lái, which means “he will come" (he is arriving or will arrive soon).

The particle le is placed after the verb or at the end of the entire sentence.

The affirmation shì de, "yes, it is," is used to emphasize parts of a sentence. It simply serves to affirm that the interlocutor agrees with the first speaker. It can be used in any situation where someone presents a statement that others can agree with. For example, "Chinese is difficult, there's lots of traffic on the road, he sings beautifully, it is very cold..." Shì de!

Tiānqì hěn lěng!
"Weather" is tiānqì in Chinese. "The weather is cold" translates into tiānqì lěng!. There is no need to add the word “is” between the subject and the adjective, but often the word hěn, meaning "very," is added to adjective phrases, thus “the weather is very cold,” tiānqì hěn lěng.

Dōngtiān xià xuě.
"In the winter it snows". Xià functions here as a verb "to rain, to fall." In addition to being a verb, the word xià can also assume the function of a preposition, as in loú xià = downstairs (loú =house), dì xià = below ground (dì = ground) etc., and of an adjective, as in xià cì = next time (cì = time, occasion), xià zhōu = next week etc.

Fēngjǐng hěn měi!
In Chinese, “landscape” is fēngjǐng. Fēng means "wind" and used alone, the word jǐng also refers to a landscape or a view. For the Chinese, the word fēngjǐng refers to beautiful landscapes in particular, and the word well typifies the poetic and highly descriptive character of the Chinese language – in addition to referring a concrete view, fēngjǐng also denotes natural phenomena, and the sensations they provoke.

The seasons

Drills

Below you will find some vocabulary related to the weather. Listen first to their pronunciation. Practice then saying them yourself and using them in the sentences that follow.

guā fēng 刮 风 = to blow (wind)
xià yǔ 下 雨 = to rain
liángkuài 凉 快 = cool
nuǎnhuo 暖 和 = warm
rè 热 = hot
mēn 闷 = smoldering hot
qǐ wù le 起 雾 了= foggy (qǐ = verb “to form, to rise”)
dǎ léi 打 雷 = thunder
shǎn diàn 闪 电 = lightning
bīng báo 冰 雹 = to hail (note: use the verb xià = to rain)
jiàng shuāng 降 霜 = frosty (jiàng = to fall, shuāng = frost)

Sample sentences

You can describe the different seasons in for example the following manner:
in the summer - xiàtiān ...hěn mēn, dǎ léi, shǎn diàn, tiānqì hěn rè
in the fall - qiūtiān ... guā fēng, xià yǔ, hěn liángkuài, jiàng shuāng
in the winter - dōngtiān...hěn lěng, xià xuě, xià bīng báo
in the spring - chūntiān...tiānqì hěn liángkuài, guā fēng

You can also practice these:

yesterday - zúotiān...dǎ léi, xià yǔ
today - jīntiān...hěn lěng, guā fēng
tomorrow - míngtiān...xià yǔ, tiānqì hěn lěng
Sunday - zhōurì...xià xuě, tiānqì hěn rè
this morning - jīntiān zăoshang...qǐ wù le
in the evening - wănshang...xià bīng báo
etc.

Please note! The word tiānqì, weather, can be used when the subject is followed by an adjective clearly descriptive of the weather (such as tiānqì hěn rè). When you use a verb and a noun to describe the weather, you can't use the word tiānqì. In English, you could say, “the weather is rainy, foggy” but in Chinese, the same thing is said using a verb, and without adding the word tiānqì, for example, xià yǔ, qǐ wù.