Nature & Landscape in Chinese 大自然
dàzìrán
Nature in Chinese is 大自然 (dà zì rán).
Also searched for as: nature, mountain, river, landscape.
What's out there? 15 essential nature & landscape words in Mandarin Chinese, with pinyin and English. Open it in the app to hear each word, tick off the ones you know and turn them into flashcards.
The word for nature in Chinese is 大自然 (dà zì rán), literally 'great nature', and it's the word you use when you talk about getting outdoors. This list gives you the building blocks of any landscape, from 山 (shān), mountain, and 河 (hé), river, to 森林 (sēn lín), forest, and 海边 (hǎi biān), seaside, and the single characters are worth knowing because they appear in countless Chinese place names.
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 大自然 | dà zì rán | nature |
| 山 | shān | mountain |
| 河 | hé | river |
| 湖 | hú | lake |
| 海 | hǎi | sea |
| 海边 | hǎi biān | seaside |
| 森林 | sēn lín | forest |
| 草地 | cǎo dì | grassland; lawn |
| 沙漠 | shā mò | desert |
| 岛 | dǎo | island |
| 天空 | tiān kōng | sky |
| 太阳 | tài yang | sun |
| 月亮 | yuè liang | moon |
| 星星 | xīng xing | star |
| 风景 | fēng jǐng | scenery |
Usage tips
- Landscape words take different measure words: 一座山 (yī zuò shān), 一条河 (yī tiáo hé), 一片森林 (yī piàn sēn lín), 一个湖 (yī gè hú).
- 爬山 (pá shān), literally 'climb a mountain', is the everyday word for going hill walking or hiking, not technical climbing.
- Traditional Chinese landscape painting is called 山水画 (shān shuǐ huà), 'mountain-water painting', which shows how central these two words are to the Chinese idea of scenery.
Common mistakes
- Saying 去海 for "go to the sea" → say 去海边 (qù hǎi biān), go to the seaside.
- Using 自然 alone for "I love nature" → 自然 (zì rán) on its own often means 'natural' or 'of course', so say 我喜欢大自然 (wǒ xǐ huan dà zì rán).
Mini dialogue
- A这个周末你有什么打算？Zhè gè zhōu mò nǐ yǒu shén me dǎ suàn?Any plans for this weekend?
- B我想去爬山，山上的风景特别美。Wǒ xiǎng qù pá shān, shān shàng de fēng jǐng tè bié měi.I want to go up the mountain. The views from the top are gorgeous.
- A我也想去！山下是不是还有一个湖？Wǒ yě xiǎng qù! Shān xià shì bu shì hái yǒu yī gè hú?I'd love to come! Isn't there a lake at the bottom too?
- B对，我们可以在湖边吃午饭，晚上还能看星星。Duì, wǒ men kě yǐ zài hú biān chī wǔ fàn, wǎn shang hái néng kàn xīng xing.Yes, we can have lunch by the lake, and look at the stars in the evening.
Example sentences
- 周末我喜欢去感受大自然。At weekends I like to get out into nature.
- 我们明天早上去爬山。We're going to climb the mountain tomorrow morning.
- 这条河里有很多鱼。There are lots of fish in this river.
- 湖边有很多人在散步。Lots of people are walking by the lake.
- 这是我第一次看到大海。This is the first time I've seen the sea.
- 暑假我们去海边玩了一周。We spent a week at the seaside in the summer holidays.
- 森林里有很多小动物。There are lots of small animals in the forest.
- 孩子们在草地上踢足球。The children are playing football on the grass.
- 沙漠里白天很热，晚上很冷。The desert is hot by day and cold at night.
- 这个小岛上只有一家饭店。There's only one restaurant on this little island.
- 今天的天空特别蓝。The sky is especially blue today.
- 太阳出来了，我们出去走走吧。The sun's come out, let's go for a walk.
- 今晚的月亮又大又圆。The moon is big and round tonight.
- 山上晚上能看到很多星星。You can see lots of stars on the mountain at night.
- 这里的风景真美！The scenery here is beautiful!
Practise speaking
Ready to use these words? The Nature & landscape speaking island has 8 everyday questions about nature & landscape to prepare your own answers to.