Chinese rain vocabulary and phrases

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xià雨yǔ (xià​yǔ), which is comprised of the characters for “going down” 下xià (xià) and “rain” 雨yǔ (yǔ). If you look at the 雨yǔ (yǔ) character it looks a little bit like rain, which hopefully makes it a little easier to remember.

Chinese rain vocabulary

Here is a list of Chinese rain-related vocabulary

雨yǔ yǔ	rain
下xià雨yǔ xià​yǔ	raining
雨Yǔ水shuǐ Yǔ​shuǐ	rain water
雨yǔ天tiān yǔ​tiān	rainy day
雨yǔ伞sǎn yǔ​sǎn	(rain) umbrella
雨yǔ衣yī yǔ​yī	raincoat
风fēng衣yī fēng​yī	windbreaker
雨yǔ披pī yǔ pī	poncho
雨yǔ帽mào yǔ mào	rain hat
穿chuān雨yǔ chuān yǔ	gumboots
湿shī透tòu shī​tòu	soaked, drenched, wet through
淋lín湿shī lín​shī	soaked
风fēng fēng	wind
雷léi声shēng léi​shēng	thunder
闪shǎn电diàn shǎn​diàn	lightening
雷léi声shēng和hé闪shǎn电diàn léi​shēng hé shǎn​diàn	thunder and lightening
雷léi电diàn léi​diàn	thunder and lightening （shortform)
风fēng暴bào fēng​bào	storm
暴bào雨yǔ bào​yǔ	torrential rain / rain storm
台tái风fēng tái​fēng	typhoon
大dà水shuǐ dà​shuǐ	flood
外wài面miàn wài​miàn	outside
外wài边bian wài​bian	outside
里lǐ面miàn lǐ​miàn	inside
里lǐ边bian lǐ​bian	inside
水shuǐ坑kēng shuǐ​kēng	puddle
泥ní泞nìng的de水shuǐ坑kēng ní​nìng de shuǐ​kēng	muddy puddles
躲duǒ雨yǔ duǒ​yǔ	to take shelter from the rain

Chinese rain example sentences

It’s a rainy day
今jīn天tiān是shì雨yǔ天tiān
jīn​tiān shì yǔ​tiān

今jīn天tiān jīn​tiān	today See our post on how to say Dates in Chinese – a full guide
是shì shì	is, to be
雨yǔ天tiān yǔ​tiān	raining

Take an umbrella.
带dài把bǎ雨yǔ伞sǎn。.
dài bǎ yǔ​sǎn.

把bǎ bǎ	take Instead of 带 the speaker could have also said 带上, which means essentially the same thing
把bǎ。. bǎ.	an 把 is a classifier for items with a handle, like an umbrella
雨yǔ伞sǎn yǔ​sǎn	umbrella

Bring a raincoat
带dài上shàng雨yǔ衣yī吧ba
dài​shàng yǔ​yī ba

带dài上shàng dài​shàng	bring
	raincoat
吧ba ba	<particle> 吧ba (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yòu下xià雨yǔ了le！!
yòu xià​yǔ le!

又yòu yòu	once again
下xià雨yǔ xià​yǔ	raining
了le le	<particle> 了le (le) indicates a completed action, indicates a completed action or past tense.

I wear my gumboots on a rainy day.
我wǒ在zài下xià雨yǔ天tiān穿chuān雨yǔ鞋xié。.
wǒ zài xià​yǔ tiān chuān yǔ xié.

我wǒ wǒ	I
在zài zài	when
下xià雨yǔ天tiān xià​yǔ tiān	rainy days This can be broken down to mean “raining” 下xià雨yǔ (xià​yǔ) + “days” 天tiān (tiān)
穿chuān chuān	wear
雨yǔ鞋xié yǔ xié	gumboots Literally “rain” 雨yǔ (yǔ) + “shoes” 鞋xié (xié)

I’m soaked!
我wǒ浑hún身shēn都dōu湿shī透tòu了le！!
wǒ hún​shēn dōu shī​tòu le!

我wǒ wǒ	I
浑hún身shēn hún​shēn	from head to toe, all over
都dōu dōu	entirely
湿shī透tòu shī​tòu	drenched Broken down these characters mean “wet” 湿shī (shī) + “completely” 湿shī透tòu (shī​tòu)
了le le	<past tense>

I’m soaked from the rain!
我wǒ被bèi雨yǔ淋lín湿shī了le！!
wǒ bèi yǔ lín shī le!

我wǒ wǒ	I
被bèi bèi	by <passive voice> 被bèi (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Yǔ水shuǐ湿shī透tòu了le我wǒ (Yǔ​shuǐ shī​tòu le wǒ), that is the rain water 雨Yǔ水shuǐ (Yǔ​shuǐ) (the subject of the sentence) undertook an action on me.
雨yǔ yǔ	rain
淋lín湿shī lín​shī	to get soaked The component characters here are “drench” 淋lín (lín) and “wet” 淋lín (lín)
了le le	<past tense> 了le (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bié淋lín雨yǔ！!
bié lín​yǔ!

别bié bié	do not This is a very common character, for example “do not speak” 别bié说shuō (bié shuō) or “don’t go” 别bié说shuō (bié shuō)
淋lín雨yǔ lín​yǔ	get wet in the rain The component characters here are “to drench” 淋lín (lín) and “rain” 雨yǔ (yǔ)

It’s windy!
风fēng很hěn大dà！!
fēng hěn dà!

风fēng fēng	wind
很hěn hěn	very
大dà dà	strong Although 大dà (dà) can mean “big” or “large”, here it means the wind is strong.

It’s very windy outside.
外wài边bian风fēng很hěn大dà。.
wài​bian fēng hěn dà.

外wài边bian wài​bian	outside Literally this is “outside“ 外wài (wài) + ”side” 边biān (biān). You may also commonly see “outside” written as 外wài面miàn (wài​miàn), which is also perfectly acceptable.
风fēng fēng	wind
很hěn hěn	very
大dà dà	strong Although 大dà (dà) can mean “big” or “large”, here it means the wind is strong.

There was a typhoon.
刮guā了le一yī个gè台tái风fēng。.
guā le yī gè tái​fēng.

刮guā了le guā le	blow The addition of 了le (le) makes this the past tense.
一yī个gè yī gè	a
台tái风fēng tái​fēng	typhoon

Everyone loves jumping up and down in muddy puddles!
人rén人rén都dōu爱ài蹦bèng来lái蹦bèng去qù在zài泥ní泞nìng的de水shuǐ坑kēng！!
rén​rén dōu ài bèng lái bèng qù zài ní​nìng de shuǐ​kēng!

人rén人rén rén​rén	everyone Repeating the character for person 人rén (rén) changes it’s meaning to be “everyone”
都dōu dōu	all
爱ài ài	love
蹦bèng来lái蹦bèng去qù bèng lái bèng qù	jump in Broken down this literally means “jump in, jump out”, that is: – “jump” 蹦bèng来lái蹦bèng去qù (bèng lái bèng qù) – “come” 来lái (lái) – “jump” 蹦bèng (bèng) – “go” 去qù (qù)
在zài zài	in 在zài (zài) is typically translated to mean “at”, but can also mean “in”
泥ní泞nìng ní​nìng	muddy The component characters here both mean “mud”
的de de	<particle> Here the 的de (de) applies the attribute of “muddy” to “puddles”
水shuǐ坑kēng shuǐ​kēng	puddles Literally this is “water” 水shuǐ (shuǐ) + “hole” 坑kēng (kēng)

I slipped in the puddle and fell
我wǒ在zài水shuǐ洼wā里lǐ滑huá了le一yī跤jiāo。.
wǒ zài shuǐ​wā lǐ huá le yī jiāo.

我wǒ wǒ	I
在zài zài	at
水shuǐ洼wā里lǐ shuǐ​wā lǐ	puddle
滑huá了le huá le	slipped Here 了le (le) indicates this happened in the past tense
一yī跤jiāo yī jiāo	a tumble Here 一yī (yī) means “one” or “a” and 跤jiāo (jiāo) means “to fall” or “to tumble”

The roads are all flooded
路lù面miàn被bèi淹yān了le
lù​miàn bèi yān le

路lù面miàn lù​miàn	road surface “road” 路lù (lù) + “surfance” 面miàn (miàn)
被bèi bèi	by <passive voice> 被bèi (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Yǔ水shuǐ湿shī透tòu了le我wǒ (Yǔ​shuǐ shī​tòu le wǒ), that is the rain water 雨Yǔ水shuǐ (Yǔ​shuǐ) (the subject of the sentence) undertook an action on me.
淹yān了le yān le	flooded

The road is flooded
公gōng路lù被bèi淹yān了le
gōng​lù bèi yān le

公gōng路lù gōng​lù	road Literally “public” 公gōng (gōng) + “road” 路lù (lù) You will often see the character 路lù (lù) used by itself to mean road.
被bèi bèi	by <passive voice> 被bèi (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Yǔ水shuǐ湿shī透tòu了le我wǒ (Yǔ​shuǐ shī​tòu le wǒ), that is the rain water 雨Yǔ水shuǐ (Yǔ​shuǐ) (the subject of the sentence) undertook an action on me.
淹yān了le yān le	flooded

I’ll shelter under a tree from the rain
我wǒ在zài树shù下xià躲duǒ雨yǔ
wǒ zài shù xià duǒ​yǔ

我wǒ wǒ	I
在zài zài	located
树shù下xià shù xià	under a tree 树shù (shù) means “tree” while in this instance 下xià (xià) means under. For example 鸟niǎo在zài树shù上shàng (niǎo zài shù shàng) means the bird 鸟niǎo (niǎo) is on the tree 在zài树shù上shàng (zài shù shàng) .
躲duǒ雨yǔ duǒ​yǔ	take shelter Literally “to hide” 躲duǒ (duǒ) from the “rain” 雨yǔ (yǔ). You’ll see 躲 used in other context such as “I hid behind the door” 我wǒ多duō在zài门mén后hòu (wǒ duō zài mén hòu), where 门mén (mén) means “door” and “behind” 后hòu (hòu).