How to Talk About Basic Weather Conditions

Learn how to talk about basic weather conditions

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Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Can-Do Japanese by JapanesePod101.com.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about weather conditions in Japanese.

For example, "It's rainy." is

あめです。(Ame desu.)

is in rainy Tokyo.

She’s on a long-distance call with Miki Mori, her former colleague, who asks about the current weather.

Before you hear their conversation, let's preview some of its key components.

てんき (tenki)

"weather"

てんき (enunciated)

てんき

あめ (ame)

"rain"

あめ (enunciated)

あめ

Listen to the conversation, and focus on the response.

Ready?

てんきはどうですか。(Tenki wa dō desu ka.)

あめです。(Ame desu.)

Once more with the English translation.

てんきはどうですか。(Tenki wa dō desu ka.)

"How's the weather?"

あめです。(Ame desu.)

"It's rainy."

Let's break down the conversation.

Do you remember how Miki asks,

"How's the weather?"

てんきはどうですか。(Tenki wa dō desu ka.)

First is てんき (tenki), "weather." て-ん-き.てんき

Next is the particle, は (wa), the topic-marking particle. は.

It marks "weather" as the topic of the sentence. Think of it like "as for" in the expression "as for the weather."

After this is the word, どう (dō), meaning "how," in this context. どう. どう.

After this is です (desu). In this case, it’s like the "is" in "how is." で-す. です.

And last is か (ka), the question-marking particle, which turns the sentence into a question. か.

All together, てんきはどうですか (Tenki wa dō desu ka) literally means, "As for the weather, how is?" but translates as "How’s the weather?"

てんきはどうですか。(Tenki wa dō desu ka.)

Let’s take a closer look at the response.

Do you remember how Megumi says,

"It's rainy."

あめです。(Ame desu.)

First is あめ (ame), "rain," あ-め. あめ。

Next is です (desu)。In this case, it’s like the like "is" in "it is." です。

All together, あめです (Ame desu) literally means "rain [it] is," but it translates as "It's rainy." あめです。

This is the shortened version of てんきはあめです (Tenki wa ame desu)。Literally, "As for the weather, it’s rainy. てんきはあめです。

The phrase てんきは (tenki wa), "As for the weather," is understood from the context of the conversation, so it is omitted.

All together, it’s あめです(Ame desu), "It's rainy."

あめです。(Ame desu.)

The pattern is

WEATHERです。(desu.)

"It's WEATHER."

WEATHER です。(desu.)

To use this pattern, simply replace {weather} with the local weather condition.

Imagine you're in Sapporo, and outside there is snow, ゆき (yuki). ゆ-き. ゆき。

Say, "It's snowy."

Ready?

ゆきです。(Yuki desu.)

"It's snowy."

ゆきです。(Yuki desu.)

Again, the pattern is

WEATHERです。(desu.)

"It's WEATHER."

WEATHER です。(desu.)

Let’s look at some more examples.

Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers.

あめです。(Ame desu.)

"It's rainy."

あめです。(Ame desu.)

ゆきです。(Yuki desu.)

"It's snowy."

ゆきです。(Yuki desu.)

はれです。(Hare desu.)

"It's sunny."

はれです。(Hare desu.)

くもりです。(Kumori desu.)

"It's cloudy."

くもりです。(Kumori desu.)

とうきょうはあめです。 (Tōkyō wa ame desu.)

"It's rainy in Tokyo."

とうきょうはあめです。 (Tōkyō wa ame desu.)

Did you notice how the last speaker added the phrase,

とうきょうは (Tōkyō wa)

とうきょうはあめです。 (Tōkyō wa ame desu.)

Literally means "As for Tokyo, rain [it] is," but it translates as "Tokyo is rainy." とうきょうはあめです (Tōkyō wa ame desu)。

The phrase, とうきょうは (Tōkyō wa), "as for Tokyo," establishes Tokyo as the topic of the weather commentary that follows it.

You should be aware of the longer pattern, but for this lesson, we'll use the shortened pattern.

Let's review the key words.

はれ (hare) "sunny." は-れ. はれ。

くもり (kumori), "cloudy." く-も-り. くもり。

Let's review.

Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the native speakers, focusing on pronunciation.

Ready?

Do you remember how to say "rain?"

あめ (ame)

Do you remember how Megumi Sasaki says, "It's rainy?"

あめです。(Ame desu.)

Do you remember how to say "weather?"

てんき (tenki)　

And the topic-marking particle?

は (wa)

Do you remember how to say "how?"

どう (dō)

And the question-marking particle?

か (ka)

Do you remember how Miki Mori asks, "How's the weather?"

てんきはどうですか。(Tenki wa dō desu ka.)

Do you remember how to say "sunny?"

はれ (hare)

And how to say "cloudy?"

くもり (kumori)

Do you remember how to say "snow?"

ゆき (yuki)

Let's practice.

Imagine you’re Megumi Sasaki in cloudy Tokyo. "Cloudy" is くもり (kumori).

Respond to the question.

Ready?

てんきはどうですか。(Tenki wa dō desu ka.)

くもりです。(Kumori desu.)

Listen again and repeat.

くもりです。(Kumori desu.)

Let’s try another.

Imagine you’re Miki Mori in sunny Fukuoka. "Sunny" is はれ (hare).

Ready?

てんきはどうですか。(Tenki wa dō desu ka.)

はれです。(Hare desu.)

Listen again and repeat.

はれです。(Hare desu.)

Let’s try one more.

Imagine you’re Ken Kobayashi in snowy Sapporo. "Snowy" is ゆき (yuki).

Ready?

てんきはどうですか。(Tenki wa dō desu ka.)

ゆきです。(Yuki desu.)

Listen again and repeat.

ゆきです。(Yuki desu.)

In this lesson, you learned how to talk about weather in Japanese. This plays an essential role in the larger skill of talking about the weather. Let’s review.

Do you remember how to say "hot?"

あつい (atsui)

And do you remember how to say "today?"

きょう (kyō)

Do you remember how to say,

"It’s hot today, isn’t it?"

きょうはあついですね。(Kyō wa atsui desu ne.)

Imagine you're Jack Jones, and it's cold outside.

Do you remember how to say "cold" in Japanese?

さむい (samui)

Now, tell your friend that it's cold.

きょうさむいですね。(Kyō wa samui desu ne.)

そうですね。(Sō desu ne.)

Listen again and repeat.

きょうさむいですね。(Kyō wa samui desu ne.)

On a different occasion you're traveling in Hokkaido and talking with your friend on the phone. Your friend asks how the weather is, and it's snowy.

Do you remember how to say "snowy" in Japanese?

ゆきです (Yuki desu)

(1)

ゆきです (Yuki desu)

Respond to your friend and say it's snowy.

てんきはどうですか。(Tenki wa dō desu ka.)

ゆきです。(Yuki desu.)

Listen again and repeat.

ゆきです。(Yuki desu.)

Well done! This is the end of the lesson and the Can Talk About the Weather unit of this course.

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