气候 meaning in English
(meteorology) climate; (fig.) climate; prevailing conditions (in human affairs)
Meaning of 气候
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- (meteorology) climate
- (fig.) climate; prevailing conditions (in human affairs)
How to use 气候
气候 is used for the long-term weather patterns of a place, and also figuratively for the general situation in politics, the economy, or society. 这里的气候很温和。(Zhèlǐ de qìhòu hěn wēnhé.) The climate here is mild.
气 (qì) means air, and 候 (hòu) appears in 时候 (shíhou), a word about time. Air over a long stretch of time gives you the climate.
Common mistake: Learners often use 气候 when they mean today's weather. For that, use 天气 (tiānqì), as in 今天天气很好 (jīntiān tiānqì hěn hǎo), and keep 气候 for long-term patterns. Also note 候 is said with a full fourth tone here, hòu, not the neutral tone it takes in 时候 (shíhou).
气候 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.
气 qì · gas · 4 strokes
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候 hòu · to wait · 10 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 气候.
| 时候 | shíhou | time; length of time |
| 生气 | shēngqì | to get angry; to be furious; vitality; liveliness |
| 有时候 | yǒushíhou | sometimes |
| 天气 | tiānqì | weather |
| 不客气 | bù kèqì | you're welcome; don't mention it |
| 小时候 | xiǎoshíhou | in one's childhood |
| 空气 | kōngqì | air; atmosphere |
| 这时候 | zhè shíhou | |
| 气温 | qìwēn | air temperature |
| 那时候 | nà shíhou | at that time |
| 运气 | yùnqi | luck (good or bad) |
| 勇气 | yǒngqì | courage |
Questions about 气候
What does 气候 mean?
气候 (qìhòu) means "(meteorology) climate; (fig.) climate; prevailing conditions (in human affairs)" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 气候?
气候 is made of 2 characters: 气 (4 strokes), 候 (10 strokes). That is 14 strokes in total.
Is 气候 an HSK word?
Yes. 气候 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 气候 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 气候 is written 氣候.
How do you say climate change in Chinese?
Climate change is 气候变化 (qìhòu biànhuà). You will see it often in news and in discussions about the environment.
Can 气候 describe a political or economic situation?
Yes. Phrases like 政治气候 (zhèngzhì qìhòu, political climate) or 经济气候 (jīngjì qìhòu, economic climate) describe the prevailing conditions in human affairs. There is also the idiom 成气候 (chéng qìhòu), meaning to amount to something or become successful, and it is often used in the negative, as in 成不了气候 (chéng bu liǎo qìhòu), meaning won't amount to much.