HSK 1Lesson 18
This lesson connects weather with school and health. You practice coming, going, returning, arriving, and living in short practical scenes.
You will learn to talk about weather, feeling a little hot or cold, being sick, seeing a doctor, and simple movement.
Talk about weather or health conditions and simple coming, going, returning, arriving, and living.
Part 1 · 18 new words
Contains 5 words
weather
how; what is it like
rain
to rain
snow
Contains 3 words
cold
hot
Contains 4 words
illness
to get sick
Contains 5 words
come
go
Contains 1 word
medicine
Part 2 · 16 phrases
今天天气怎么样？
What is the weather like today?
明天下雨吗？
Will it rain tomorrow?
今天下雪吗？
Is it snowing today?
今天很冷。
Today is cold.
今天很热。
Today is hot.
我生病了。
I'm sick.
我去医院看病。
I'm going to the hospital to see a doctor.
我要一点儿药。
Part 3 · 4 conversations
Two classmates check tomorrow's weather and decide whether one will make an optional trip to the bookstore.
美美Meimei
明天天气怎么样？
What will the weather be like tomorrow?
方方Fangfang
明天下雨，有点儿冷。
It will rain tomorrow and be a little cold.
美美Meimei
Part 4 · 3 points
Mild degree with 有点儿
Put 有点儿yǒu diǎnr before an adjective to say that an unwanted condition is present to a mild degree: 有点儿冷yǒu diǎnr lěng, “a little cold.”
Soften an uncomfortable description
Says something is a little cold, hot, or unwell.
有点儿热yǒu diǎnr rè means a little hot or feverish.
a little bit
to see a doctor
patient
return
arrive
live
I need a little medicine.
有点儿冷。
It's a little cold.
有点儿热。
It's a little hot.
天气有点儿冷。
The weather is a little cold.
今天不下雨。
It's not raining today.
我来医院。
I come to the hospital.
我回学校。
I return to school.
我到医院了。
I have arrived at the hospital.
我住学校那边。
I live over by the school.
你去书店吗？
Will you go to the bookstore?
方方Fangfang
不去，我在家读书。
No, I will stay home and read.
A student asks a friend what to do after getting sick.
美美Meimei
我生病了。
I am sick.
方方Fangfang
你去医院看病吧。
Go to the hospital to see a doctor.
美美Meimei
医院在哪儿？
Where is the hospital?
方方Fangfang
医院在学校那边。
The hospital is over by the school.
A patient describes feeling sick, answers how long it has lasted, and the doctor begins an examination.
病人Patient
医生，我生病了，有点儿热。
Doctor, I'm sick and feel a little hot.
医生Doctor
你生病几天了？
How many days have you been sick?
病人Patient
一天了。
One day.
医生Doctor
我看一下。
Let me examine you.
A sick student says she needs the hospital, and a friend decides to go with her.
美美Meimei
我生病了，要去医院。
I am sick and need to go to the hospital.
方方Fangfang
你现在去吗？
Are you going now?
美美Meimei
去，我现在去医院。
Yes, I am going to the hospital now.
方方Fangfang
好，我也去医院。
Okay, I will go to the hospital too.
Do not confuse degree and quantity
Use 有点儿yǒu diǎnr before a description; use 一点儿yìdiǎnr before a noun to name a small amount.
一点儿药yìdiǎnr yào means a little medicine; it does not describe how the medicine feels.
In sentences
Plain description with 很 (hěn)
很冷。
It is cold.
很冷hěn lěng gives a plain description without presenting the cold as a mild problem.
Mild, unwelcome degree with 有点儿 (yǒu diǎnr)
有点儿冷。
It's a little cold.
有点儿yǒu diǎnr comes before the description.
Hot weather
今天有点儿热。
Today is a little hot.
The time word can come first, then 有点儿yǒu diǎnr plus the description.
Small quantity with 一点儿 (yìdiǎnr)
一点儿药
a little medicine
一点儿yìdiǎnr comes before a noun to express an amount; this is different from 有点儿yǒu diǎnr before an adjective.
医生，我生病了，有点儿热。
Doctor, I'm sick and feel a little hot.
Lesson 12 introduced degree words such as 很hěn, 真zhēn, 非常fēicháng, and 太tài. This lesson adds 有点儿yǒu diǎnr for a different job: it presents a quality as a mild problem or something less than ideal. Compare 很冷hěn lěng, a neutral description meaning “cold,” with 有点儿冷yǒu diǎnr lěng, “a little cold,” which suggests that the cold is noticeable or unwelcome.
The structure is subject or topic + 有点儿yǒu diǎnr + adjective. Put 有点儿yǒu diǎnr before the adjective: 天气有点儿冷。Tiānqì yǒu diǎnr lěng. Do not confuse this with 一点儿yìdiǎnr + noun, which expresses a small quantity: 一点儿药yìdiǎnr yào, “a little medicine.” 有点儿冷yǒu diǎnr lěng describes a mild degree; 一点儿药yìdiǎnr yào names an amount.
Directional verbs
Use 来lái for movement toward the speaker or the place being treated as “here”; use 去qù for movement away toward another place.
Choose movement direction
Use the speaker's viewpoint to choose “come” or “go.”
我去医院wǒ qù yīyuàn treats the hospital as a destination away from the current viewpoint.
In sentences
Go there: 去 (qù)
你去医院吗？
Are you going to the hospital?
Use 去qù when the hospital is away from the speaker's current viewpoint.
Come here: 来 (lái)
我来医院。
I will come to the hospital.
Use 来lái when the hospital is the speaker's or listener's “here.”
我去医院看病。
I'm going to the hospital to see a doctor.
来lái and 去qù describe the same kind of movement from different viewpoints. Choose 来lái, “come,” when the destination is where the speaker is or is being treated as “here.” Choose 去qù, “go,” when the destination is away from that viewpoint.
If the speaker is at the hospital, 你来医院吗？Nǐ lái yīyuàn ma? asks whether the listener will come there. If both people are somewhere else, 你去医院吗？Nǐ qù yīyuàn ma? asks whether the listener will go there. In this lesson, 回huí means “return,” 到dào means “arrive,” and 住zhù means “live”; they are useful place verbs, but they do not express the 来lái versus 去qù
Extending change-of-state 了 beyond age
Earlier, 了le presented age as the current situation. Now use sentence-final 了le after a health or arrival phrase to say that a different situation has become true.
Mark a new state
Shows that a new situation is true now.
生病了shēngbìng le means the person is now sick.
In sentences
New health state
我生病了。
I'm sick.
了le marks the new health state.
Arrival
我到医院了。
I have arrived at the hospital.
了le marks that arrival is now complete.
Earlier, 你几岁了？Nǐ jǐ suì le? and 我今年八岁了Wǒ jīnnián bā suì le used sentence-final 了le in age statements. This lesson extends the same change-of-situation idea beyond age. 我生病了。Wǒ shēngbìng le. means the speaker is now sick, and 我到医院了。Wǒ dào yīyuàn le. means the speaker has now arrived at the hospital.
Put 了le after the whole health or arrival phrase whose result is now true. Compare 我生病wǒ shēngbìng, which merely names being ill without the lesson's new-situation framing, with 我生病了wǒ shēngbìng le, which announces that the speaker is now sick.
Coming to the hospital
好，我来医院。我住医院那边。
Okay, I will come to the hospital. I live over by the hospital.
来toward here医院destination
Why it matters · The friend uses 来医院lái yīyuàn because the hospital is the destination being treated as “here.” The later 住zhù describes where the friend lives; it is not part of the 来lái/去qù contrast.
医生，我生病了，有点儿热。
Doctor, I'm sick and feel a little hot.
生病changed state了change marker
Why it matters · The patient again uses 生病了shēngbìng le to explain why they need care.
