Meaning of 下雨
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to rain
How to use 下雨
下雨 is the everyday way to say it is raining, and it works like a verb phrase, so you can add 了 or 在 to it. To talk about the weather right now, say 下雨了 (xià yǔ le), it has started raining. Example: 明天会下雨吗？(Míngtiān huì xià yǔ ma?) Will it rain tomorrow?
下 (xià) means down, and 雨 (yǔ) means rain. The dots inside 雨 look like raindrops, so 下雨 is simply rain coming down.
Common mistake: Learners often say 雨了 or 是雨 for it is raining, but Chinese needs the verb 下, so say 下雨了. Also watch the tones: 下 is fourth tone and 雨 is third tone, not xiā yú.
下雨 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
下 xià · down · 3 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
雨 yǔ · rain · 8 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
Related words
Words that share a character with 下雨.
| 坐下 | zuò xia | to sit down |
| 下次 | xià cì | next time |
| 下午 | xiàwǔ | afternoon; p.m. |
| 下车 | xià chē | to get off or out of (a bus, train, car etc) |
| 楼下 | lóu xià | downstairs |
| 下班 | xiàbān | to finish work; to get off work; next service (train, bus etc) |
| 下课 | xiàkè | to finish class; to get out of class |
| 下边 | xiàbian | under; the underside |
| 一下儿 | yīxiàr | erhua form of 一下[yi1 xia4] |
| 留下 | liúxia | to leave behind; to stay behind |
| 放下 | fàngxia | to lay down; to put down; to let go of; to relinquish; to set aside |
| 接下来 | jiē xiàlái | to accept; to take |
Questions about 下雨
What does 下雨 mean?
下雨 (xià yǔ) means "to rain".
How do you write 下雨?
下雨 is made of 2 characters: 下 (3 strokes), 雨 (8 strokes). That is 11 strokes in total.
Is 下雨 an HSK word?
Yes. 下雨 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How do I say it is raining heavily or lightly in Chinese?
Put a size word between the two parts: 下大雨 (xià dà yǔ) means to rain heavily and 下小雨 (xià xiǎo yǔ) means to rain lightly. This works because 下雨 is a verb plus object, so the object can take a modifier.
Can 下 be used for other kinds of weather?
Yes. The same pattern is used for snow, as in 下雪 (xià xuě), to snow. Chinese uses 下 for things that fall from the sky.