In this post we’ll look at rain related vocabulary and phrases in Chinese.
Unless you plan on staying inside, it’s likely you’ll encounter rain when in a Chinese speaking country.
How to say it’s raining in Chinese
The Chinese word for “rain” is 下雨 (xiàyǔ), which is comprised of the characters for “going down” 下 (xià) and “rain” 雨 (yǔ). If you look at the 雨 (yǔ) character it looks a little bit like rain, which hopefully makes it a little easier to remember.
take Instead of 带 the speaker could have also said 带上, which means essentially the same thing
把。 bǎ.
an 把 is a classifier for items with a handle, like an umbrella
雨伞 yǔsǎn
umbrella
Bring a raincoat 带上雨衣吧 dàishàng yǔyī ba
带上 dàishàng
bring
raincoat
吧 ba
<particle> 吧 (ba) changes the sentence from a statement or order to a suggestion. It makes the sentence the equivalent of saying “how about bringing a raincoat?” instead of making the statement “bring a raincoat”.
It’s raining again! 又下雨了! yòu xiàyǔ le!
又 yòu
once again
下雨 xiàyǔ
raining
了 le
<particle> 了 (le) indicates a completed action, indicates a completed action or past tense.
I wear my gumboots on a rainy day. 我在下雨天穿雨鞋。 wǒ zài xiàyǔ tiān chuān yǔ xié.
我 wǒ
I
在 zài
when
下雨天 xiàyǔ tiān
rainy days This can be broken down to mean “raining” 下雨 (xiàyǔ) + “days” 天 (tiān)
drenched Broken down these characters mean “wet” 湿 (shī) + “completely” 湿透 (shītòu)
了 le
<past tense>
I’m soaked from the rain! 我被雨淋湿了! wǒ bèi yǔ lín shī le!
我 wǒ
I
被 bèi
by <passive voice> 被 (bèi) indicates the passive voice, that is when an action happens to the subject of the sentence rather than by the subject. In this case “I was soaked by the rain”, where the action happened to me, where I am the subject of the sentence. If we wrote this sentence in the active voice, “the rain soaked me” 雨水湿透了我 (Yǔshuǐ shītòu le wǒ), that is the rain water 雨水 (Yǔshuǐ) (the subject of the sentence) undertook an action on me.
雨 yǔ
rain
淋湿 línshī
to get soaked The component characters here are “drench” 淋 (lín) and “wet” 淋 (lín)
了 le
<past tense> 了 (le) can indicate the past tense, that is that something has already happened, but also the completion of an action.
Don’t get wet! 别淋雨! bié línyǔ!
别 bié
do not This is a very common character, for example “do not speak” 别说 (bié shuō) or “don’t go” 别说 (bié shuō)
淋雨 línyǔ
get wet in the rain The component characters here are “to drench” 淋 (lín) and “rain” 雨 (yǔ)
It’s windy! 风很大! fēng hěn dà!
风 fēng
wind
很 hěn
very
大 dà
strong Although 大 (dà) can mean “big” or “large”, here it means the wind is strong.
It’s very windy outside. 外边风很大。 wàibian fēng hěn dà.
外边 wàibian
outside Literally this is “outside“ 外 (wài) + ”side” 边 (biān). You may also commonly see “outside” written as 外面 (wàimiàn), which is also perfectly acceptable.
风 fēng
wind
很 hěn
very
大 dà
strong Although 大 (dà) can mean “big” or “large”, here it means the wind is strong.
There was a typhoon. 刮了一个台风。 guā le yī gè táifēng.
刮了 guā le
blow The addition of 了 (le) makes this the past tense.
一个 yī gè
a
台风 táifēng
typhoon
Everyone loves jumping up and down in muddy puddles! 人人都爱蹦来蹦去在泥泞的水坑! rénrén dōu ài bèng lái bèng qù zài nínìng de shuǐkēng!
人人 rénrén
everyone Repeating the character for person 人 (rén) changes it’s meaning to be “everyone”
都 dōu
all
爱 ài
love
蹦来蹦去 bèng lái bèng qù
jump in Broken down this literally means “jump in, jump out”, that is: – “jump” 蹦来蹦去 (bèng lái bèng qù) – “come” 来 (lái) – “jump” 蹦 (bèng) – “go” 去 (qù)
在 zài
in 在 (zài) is typically translated to mean “at”, but can also mean “in”
泥泞 nínìng
muddy The component characters here both mean “mud”
的 de
<particle> Here the 的 (de) applies the attribute of “muddy” to “puddles”
水坑 shuǐkēng
puddles Literally this is “water” 水 (shuǐ) + “hole” 坑 (kēng)
I slipped in the puddle and fell 我在水洼里滑了一跤。 wǒ zài shuǐwā lǐ huá le yī jiāo.
我 wǒ
I
在 zài
at
水洼里 shuǐwā lǐ
puddle
滑了 huá le
slipped Here 了 (le) indicates this happened in the past tense
一跤 yī jiāo
a tumble Here 一 (yī) means “one” or “a” and 跤 (jiāo) means “to fall” or “to tumble”
The roads are all flooded 路面被淹了 lùmiàn bèi yān le
路面 lùmiàn
road surface “road” 路 (lù) + “surfance” 面 (miàn)
被 bèi
by <passive voice> 被 (bèi) indicates the passive voice, that is when an action happens to the subject of the sentence rather than by the subject. In this case “I was soaked by the rain”, where the action happened to me, where I am the subject of the sentence. If we wrote this sentence in the active voice, “the rain soaked me” 雨水湿透了我 (Yǔshuǐ shītòu le wǒ), that is the rain water 雨水 (Yǔshuǐ) (the subject of the sentence) undertook an action on me.
淹了 yān le
flooded
The road is flooded 公路被淹了 gōnglù bèi yān le
公路 gōnglù
road Literally “public” 公 (gōng) + “road” 路 (lù) You will often see the character 路 (lù) used by itself to mean road.
被 bèi
by <passive voice> 被 (bèi) indicates the passive voice, that is when an action happens to the subject of the sentence rather than by the subject. In this case “I was soaked by the rain”, where the action happened to me, where I am the subject of the sentence. If we wrote this sentence in the active voice, “the rain soaked me” 雨水湿透了我 (Yǔshuǐ shītòu le wǒ), that is the rain water 雨水 (Yǔshuǐ) (the subject of the sentence) undertook an action on me.
淹了 yān le
flooded
I’ll shelter under a tree from the rain 我在树下躲雨 wǒ zài shù xià duǒyǔ
我 wǒ
I
在 zài
located
树下 shù xià
under a tree 树 (shù) means “tree” while in this instance 下 (xià) means under. For example 鸟在树上 (niǎo zài shù shàng) means the bird 鸟 (niǎo) is on the tree 在树上 (zài shù shàng) .
躲雨 duǒyǔ
take shelter Literally “to hide” 躲 (duǒ) from the “rain” 雨 (yǔ). You’ll see 躲 used in other context such as “I hid behind the door” 我多在门后 (wǒ duō zài mén hòu), where 门 (mén) means “door” and “behind” 后 (hòu).