If you are someone who loves talking about the weather, then you have come to the right place.
Even if you don’t usually discuss the weather, you may have noticed it has a large impact on daily life across the world; and by far, it’s the safest possible topic as a conversation starter.
So either way, it’s reassuring knowing that learning more Chinese words related to the weather will be handy for sure! If you haven’t read the previous two posts on this topic, check them out below:
- 5 Primary Characters of Weather You Need to Know in Chinese
- 5 Primary Words of Weather You Need to Know in Chinese
To descend/to fall down 下 (xià)
Sometimes we like to describe the weather in action and to do that in Chinese, you will certainly need to get to know the keyword: 下. The ancient form of this character looked like 二 (two) turned upside down. When 下 is used as a verb, it means to descend, lower, fall down and get off.
To rain 下雨 (xià yǔ)
下 (to descend/fall down) + 雨 (rain) = 下雨 (to rain) [literally] (to fall down rain)
When placing 下 next to the character “雨,” 下 describes the rain falling “down,” and the two characters together mean “to rain.”
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Rain heavily 下大雨 (xià dà yǔ)
下 (to descend/fall down) + 大雨 (heavy rain) = 下大雨 (to rain heavily) [literally] (to fall down big rain)
To snow 下雪 (xià xuě)
下 (to descend/fall down) + 雪 (snow) = 下雪 (to snow)
When placing 下 next to the character “雪,” 下 describes the snow falling “down,” and the two characters together mean “to snow.”
It snows every day 天天下雪 (tiān tiān xià xuě)
天天 (Every day) + 下雪 (to snow) = 天天下雪 (snows every day) [literally] (every day snow)
You may be surprised to know that 日本 is the snowiest place on earth!