天気 — Talking About the Weather
Set phrases and structures for describing the weather, including the key grammar point that weather events like rain use the verb 降る ('to fall').
Structure
[Topic] は [weather adjective/noun] です | 雨／雪 が 降る
Examples
今日はいい天気ですね。
Kyou wa ii tenki desu ne.
It's nice weather today, isn't it?
今日は (today) + いい天気 (good weather) + です + ね (seeking agreement — the classic small-talk opener)
午後から雨が降ります。
Gogo kara ame ga furimasu.
It will rain from the afternoon.
午後から (from the afternoon) + 雨が (rain) + 降ります (falls — the verb used for rain/snow)
昨日は天気が悪かったです。
Kinou wa tenki ga warukatta desu.
The weather was bad yesterday.
天気が悪い (the weather is bad) → past 悪かった + です
• Rain is an action: English says 'it is raining' (a state). Japanese treats rain/snow as things that perform the action of falling: 雨が降っている = rain is falling. • Register: use です／ます for polite small talk about weather.
Commonly confused with
The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones 天気 is tested against.
vs 暑い vs 熱い
Both read 'atsui.' 暑い is for air/weather heat (今日は暑い). 熱い is for a hot object or liquid (熱いコーヒー). Weather always uses 暑い.
More expressions
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