Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

Let's take a closer look at the conversation.
Do you remember how Xiaoyun Xu asks,
"How's the weather?"
天气怎么样？ (Tiānqì zěnmeyàng?)
First is, 天气 (tiānqì), "weather." 天气. 天气。
Next is 怎么样 (zěnmeyàng). "how [is]," in this context, as in "how is the weather." 怎么样. 怎么样。
Together, 天气怎么样？(Tiānqì zěnmeyàng?) literally, "Weather how [is]" but translates as "How's the weather?"
天气怎么样？
Let's take a closer look at the response.
Do you remember how Karen says
"It's raining."
在下雨。(Zài xiàyǔ.)

First is 在 (zài), which literally means "at." However, when 在 is followed by a verb, it indicates the progressive tense, describing an ongoing action. 在. 在。
Here, 在 is followed by 下雨 (xiàyǔ), which means "to rain." 下雨
It can be divided into two parts.
First is 下 (xià), "to come down," in this context. 下. 下.
Next is 雨 (yǔ), "rain." 雨. 雨.
Together, 下雨 "to rain." 下雨。
Altogether, 在下雨。Translates as, "It's raining."
在下雨。
The pattern is
在 (Zài) {Weather-related verb}。
"It's {Weather-related verb}-ing."
在 (Zài) {Weather-related verb}。
To use this pattern, simply replace {Weather-related verb} with a verb phrase to describe what is going on with current weather conditions.
Imagine you're in Harbin, and it's snowing. 下雪 (xiàxuě). 下雪. 下雪。
Say
"It's snowing."
Ready?
在下雪。(Zài xiàxuě.)
"It's snowing."
在下雪。
When using 怎么样 (zěnmeyàng) to ask how something is in Chinese, the pattern is {subject} plus 怎么样 (zěnmeyàng). 


In the conversation, 天气 (tiānqì), the subject, plus 怎么样？
天气怎么样？ (Tiānqì zěnmeyàng?) "How's the weather?"

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