Level 1 - Lesson 18
This lesson connects weather with school and health. You practice coming, going, returning, arriving, and living in short practical scenes.
Contains 5 words
weather
how; what is it like
rain
to rain
snow
Contains 3 words
Contains 4 words
Contains 5 words
Contains 1 word
今天天气怎么样？
Jīntiān tiānqì zěnmeyàng?
What is the weather like today?
明天下雨吗？
Míngtiān xià yǔ ma?
Will it rain tomorrow?
今天下雪吗？
Jīntiān xià xuě ma?
Is it snowing today?
今天很冷。
Jīntiān hěn lěng.
Today is cold.
今天很热。
Jīntiān hěn rè.
Today is hot.
Situation: 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?
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.
cold
hot
a little bit
illness
to get sick
to see a doctor
patient
come
go
return
arrive
live
medicine
我生病了。
Wǒ shēngbìng le.
I'm sick.
我去医院看病。
Wǒ qù yīyuàn kànbìng.
I'm going to the hospital to see a doctor.
我要一点儿药。
Wǒ yào yìdiǎnr yào.
I need a little medicine.
有点儿冷。
Yǒu diǎnr lěng.
It's a little cold.
有点儿热。
Yǒu diǎnr rè.
It's a little hot.
天气有点儿冷。
Tiānqì yǒu diǎnr lěng.
The weather is a little cold.
今天不下雨。
Jīntiān bù xià yǔ.
It's not raining today.
我来医院。
Wǒ lái yīyuàn.
I come to the hospital.
我回学校。
Wǒ huí xuéxiào.
I return to school.
我到医院了。
Wǒ dào yīyuàn le.
I have arrived at the hospital.
我住学校那边。
Wǒ zhù xuéxiào nàbiān.
I live over by the school.
方方
Fangfang
明天下雨，有点儿冷。
It will rain tomorrow and be a little cold.
美美
Meimei
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.
Situation: 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.
Situation: 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.
Situation: 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.
有点儿热 (yǒu diǎnr rè) means a little hot or feverish.
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.
很冷 (hěn lěng) gives a plain description without presenting the cold as a mild problem.
很冷。
It is cold.
有点儿 (yǒu diǎnr) comes before the description.
有点儿冷。
It's a little cold.
The time word can come first, then 有点儿 (yǒu diǎnr) plus the description.
今天有点儿热。
Today is a little hot.
一点儿 (yìdiǎnr) comes before a noun to express an amount; this is different from 有点儿 (yǒu diǎnr) before an adjective.
一点儿药
a little medicine
医生，我生病了，有点儿热。
Doctor, I'm sick and feel a little hot.
Dialogue 01: Changing a Bookstore Plan, Turn 2
Rainy Day, today's weather
今天有点儿热。
Today is a little hot.
Dialogue 01: Changing a Bookstore Plan, Turn 4
Rainy Day, tomorrow's weather
明天下雨，有点儿冷。
It will rain tomorrow and be a little cold.
Dialogue 03: Seeing the Doctor, Turn 1
Seeing the Doctor, patient condition
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.
Use 去 (qù) when the hospital is away from the speaker's current viewpoint.
你去医院吗？
Are you going to the hospital?
Use 来 (lái) when the hospital is the speaker's or listener's “here.”
我来医院。
I will come to the hospital.
我去医院看病。
I'm going to the hospital to see a doctor.
我来医院。
I will come to the hospital.
Dialogue 02: Going to the Hospital, Turn 2
Going to the Hospital, advice
你去医院看病吧。
Go to the hospital to see a doctor.
Dialogue 04: Going to the Hospital Together, Turn 4
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 (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) viewpoint choice taught here.
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.
了 (le) marks the new health state.
我生病了。
I'm sick.
了 (le) marks that arrival is now complete.
我到医院了。
I have arrived at the hospital.
我生病了。
I am sick.
Dialogue 02: Going to the Hospital, Turn 1
Going to the Hospital, illness statement
我生病了。
I am sick.
Dialogue 03: Seeing the Doctor, Turn 1
Seeing the Doctor, patient condition
医生，我生病了，有点儿热。
Doctor, I'm sick and feel a little hot.
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.
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.
Focus
The patient again uses 生病了 (shēngbìng le) to explain why they need care.
Focus
