HSK 3Lesson 37
It is a snowy Sunday in January and Annie is walking by the campus lake for the first time in snow. You will hear Jiayue and Xiaoxue argue about the best season, then follow them into the warm dorm hall and out for dinner.
You will learn to talk about the four seasons, say which season you like best, and say that something keeps changing, such as the weather getting colder and colder.
Part 1 · 8 new words
Contains 4 words
spring (season)
summer
autumn
winter
Contains 4 words
four seasons (spring, summer, autumn and winter)
season (a bound word)
Part 2 · 9 phrases
天气越来越冷，我每天都多穿一件衣服。
The weather is getting colder and colder, so I wear one more layer every day.
冬天快到了，白天越来越短，晚上越来越长。
Winter is almost here: the days are getting shorter and the nights longer.
我最喜欢秋天，天气好，水果又多，晚上也不用开空调。
I like autumn best: the weather is good, there is lots of fruit, and you don't need the air conditioning at night.
北京有四季，我最喜欢的季节是春天。
Beijing has four seasons, and my favorite season is spring.
四季里我最怕冬天，早上起不来床。
Of the four seasons I dread winter most, because I can't get out of bed in the morning.
晚上有风，坐在外面一点儿也不热，很凉快。
Part 3 · 4 conversations
Annie, Jiayue and Xiaoxue walk by the campus lake on a snowy Sunday. It is Annie's first time walking in snow, and she is freezing.
安妮Annie
下雪了！我第一次在雪里走路。天气越来越冷，我的手都疼了。
It's snowing! It's my first time walking in snow. It's getting colder and colder, and my hands hurt.
白家月Bai Jiayue
这才哪儿到哪儿？老家的冬天比这冷多了。
Part 4 · 1 point
越来越
Use 越来越yuè lái yuè + adjective or verb to say that something is getting more and more so.
Say it keeps getting more
越来越yuè lái yuè + adjective says a change that grows with time.
season
pleasantly cool
There's a breeze at night, so sitting outside isn't hot at all; it's nicely cool.
下了雨以后，天气一下子凉快下来了。
After the rain, the weather suddenly cooled down.
雨一直下下去，我们明天就不能出去玩儿了。
If the rain keeps on falling, we can't go out to play tomorrow.
夏天快到了，我越来越想去海边游泳。
Summer is almost here, and I want more and more to go swimming at the beach.
This is nothing. Winter back home is way colder than this.
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
我们那儿冬天不下雪，只是有点儿冷。别笑我！
Where I'm from there's no snow in winter, it's just a bit chilly. Don't laugh at me!
安妮Annie
没有雪的冬天？那你们那儿有四季吗？
A winter without snow? Do you even have four seasons where you're from?
白家月Bai Jiayue
北京有四季，不过春天和秋天都很短，一年里主要是夏天和冬天。
Beijing has four seasons, but spring and autumn are short, so most of the year is summer and winter.
安妮Annie
我来的时候是夏天，现在就是冬天了，变得真快！啊，你不是说老家比这冷吗？怎么走得比我还快？
It was summer when I came and now it's winter, what a change! Hey, didn't you say it's colder back home? Why are you walking faster than me?
白家月Bai Jiayue
老家我穿大衣啊，今天忘了！快走吧！
At home I wear a big coat, and today I forgot it! Come on, let's go!
The three of them walk back toward the dorm and Annie asks which season is the best in China. Jiayue and Xiaoxue cannot agree.
安妮Annie
你们说，中国哪个季节最好？
Tell me, which season is the best in China?
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
当然是春天！我们那儿花都开了，不冷也不热。
Spring, of course! Back home the flowers are all out and it's neither cold nor hot.
白家月Bai Jiayue
春天有什么好？风大，一会儿冷一会儿热。我喜欢秋天。
What's so good about spring? It's windy and cold one minute, hot the next. I like autumn.
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
你只是因为秋天的水果吧？
You just like it for the autumn fruit, don't you?
白家月Bai Jiayue
对啊！苹果又大又甜，天气还不冷。
Yes! The apples are big and sweet, and it's not cold yet.
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
安妮，你呢？
Annie, what about you?
安妮Annie
我才来四个月，还没见过春天呢。
I've only been here four months, and I haven't seen spring yet.
Back in the warm dorm hall, Xiaoxue pulls Annie in from the cold. Annie, who now wishes for summer, remembers her first month in Beijing.
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
快进来！这儿比外面热多了。
Come in! It's much warmer in here than outside.
安妮Annie
啊，好舒服！九月我刚来的时候，这儿热得睡不着。
Ah, that feels good! When I first came in September, it was so hot in here I couldn't sleep.
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
对，你天天问我哪儿有空调。
Right, you asked me every day where there was an air conditioner.
安妮Annie
房间里没有空调，白天晚上都不凉快。
There was no air conditioning in my room, and it wasn't cool day or night.
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
后来下了几天雨，天气才凉快下来。
Then it rained for a few days and it finally cooled down.
安妮Annie
是啊！现在是冬天，我又想夏天了，很奇怪吧？
Yes! Now it's winter and I miss summer again. Strange, right?
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
不奇怪，我也是。
Not strange. Me too.
As the three of them stand in the warm hall, Jiayue, who is always hungry, has an idea for dinner and a photo to take.
白家月Bai Jiayue
别站在这儿了，我请你们吃热饺子！
Don't just stand here. My treat: hot dumplings!
安妮Annie
热饺子？我从今天开始喜欢冬天了！
Hot dumplings? I like winter from today on!
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
你刚才不是说天气越来越冷吗？
Didn't you just say the weather was getting colder and colder?
安妮Annie
我说的是天气，不是饺子！每个季节都有好吃的。
I meant the weather, not the dumplings! Every season has something good to eat.
白家月Bai Jiayue
来，站好，笑一个。我来照相，发给一雪看。
Okay, line up and smile. I'll take a picture to send to Yixue.
刘小雪Liu Xiaoxue
快看，雪下大了！
Look, it's snowing harder!
安妮Annie
啊，我的眼睛都笑没了！
Oh, my eyes disappeared from laughing!
In sentences
Adjective
他的汉语越来越好了。
His Chinese is getting better and better.
A change that has already started often takes 了le.
Verb
我越来越喜欢北京。
I like Beijing more and more.
A feeling verb can follow 越来越yuè lái yuè too.
孩子越来越高，去年的衣服都小了。
The kid is getting taller and taller, and last year's clothes are all too small.
A：你的汉语越来越好了。 B：哪里，还有很多字我不会写。
A: Your Chinese is getting better and better. B: Not really, there are still a lot of characters I can't write.
来北京以后，她越来越喜欢吃饺子了。
Since coming to Beijing, she likes eating dumplings more and more.
最近越来越忙，我都没有时间睡觉了。
I've gotten busier and busier lately and don't even have time to sleep.
天气越来越冷，安妮的手都疼了。
The weather is getting colder and colder, and Annie's hands hurt.
The pattern 越来越yuè lái yuè means "more and more". Put it before an adjective or a feeling verb to show a change that keeps growing as time passes: 天气越来越冷tiānqì yuè lái yuè lěng. The subject comes first and the sentence often ends with 了le when the change has already started: 他越来越高了tā yuè lái yuè gāo le. It describes change over time, so it differs from 更gèng, which compares two things now: 今天比昨天更冷jīntiān bǐ zuótiān gèng lěng. The key constraint is that no degree word such as 很hěn or 非常fēicháng goes between 越来越yuè lái yuè and the adjective, because 越来越yuè lái yuè already carries the degree. A common mistake is to add 很hěn: ✗ 天气越来越很冷tiānqì yuè lái yuè hěn lěng, ✓ 天气越来越冷tiānqì yuè lái yuè lěng.
