Learn how to talk about basic weather conditions
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| 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) |
| あめ (ame) |
| Do you remember how Megumi Sasaki says, "It's rainy?" |
| あめです。(Ame desu.) |
| あめです。(Ame desu.) |
| Do you remember how to say "weather?" |
| てんき (tenki) |
| てんき (tenki) |
| And the topic-marking particle? |
| は (wa) |
| は (wa) |
| Do you remember how to say "how?" |
| どう (dō) |
| どう (dō) |
| And the question-marking particle? |
| か (ka) |
| 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.) |
| てんきはどうですか。(Tenki wa dō desu ka.) |
| Do you remember how to say "sunny?" |
| はれ (hare) |
| はれ (hare) |
| And how to say "cloudy?" |
| くもり (kumori) |
| くもり (kumori) |
| Do you remember how to say "snow?" |
| ゆき (yuki) |
| 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.) |
| 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.) |
| 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.) |
| 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) |
| あつい (atsui) |
| And do you remember how to say "today?" |
| きょう (kyō) |
| 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.) |
| 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) |
| 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.) |
| 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.) |
| 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. |
| Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills. |
| What's next? |
| Show us what you can do. |
| When you're ready, take your assessment. |
| You can take it again and again, so try anytime you like. |
| Our teachers will assess it, and give you your results. |
| Keep practicing — and move on to the next lesson! |
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