Seasons in Chinese 季节
jìjié
Spring, summer, autumn, winter in Chinese is 春夏秋冬 (chūn xià qiū dōng).
Also searched for as: four seasons, spring summer autumn winter, season.
How does it change through the year? 12 essential seasons 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 season in Chinese is 季节 (jì jié), and the four seasons are 春天 (chūn tiān), 夏天 (xià tiān), 秋天 (qiū tiān) and 冬天 (dōng tiān). Each also has a one-character form, 春, 夏, 秋 and 冬, which turns up in set phrases, festival names and the traditional solar calendar, so knowing both versions helps you understand far more than weather talk.
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 季节 | jì jié | season |
| 春天 | chūn tiān | spring |
| 夏天 | xià tiān | summer |
| 秋天 | qiū tiān | autumn |
| 冬天 | dōng tiān | winter |
| 春 | chūn | spring |
| 夏 | xià | summer |
| 秋 | qiū | autumn |
| 冬 | dōng | winter |
| 雨季 | yǔ jì | rainy season |
| 冷天 | lěng tiān | cold weather |
| 气候 | qì hòu | climate |
Usage tips
- In conversation use the two-character forms; the single characters appear in compounds such as 春节 (Chūn jié), Spring Festival, 春游 (chūn yóu), spring outing, and 中秋节 (Zhōng qiū jié), Mid-Autumn Festival.
- The traditional calendar has 24 solar terms, 二十四节气 (èr shí sì jié qì). Four of them mark the start of each season: 立春 (lì chūn), 立夏 (lì xià), 立秋 (lì qiū) and 立冬 (lì dōng).
- In places without four distinct seasons, such as Singapore and Malaysia, you'll hear 雨季 (yǔ jì), rainy season, and 季风 (jì fēng), monsoon, more often than talk of spring and autumn.
Common mistakes
- Putting the season at the end, as in 我们去游泳在夏天 → time words go before the verb: 夏天我们去游泳 (xià tiān wǒ men qù yóu yǒng).
- Translating "springtime" as 春天时间 → say 春天 on its own or 春天的时候 (chūn tiān de shí hou).
Mini dialogue
- A你最喜欢哪个季节？Nǐ zuì xǐ huan nǎ gè jì jié?Which season do you like best?
- B我最喜欢秋天，不冷不热。你呢？Wǒ zuì xǐ huan qiū tiān, bù lěng bù rè. Nǐ ne?Autumn, it's not too cold or too hot. You?
- A我喜欢冬天，因为可以去滑雪。Wǒ xǐ huan dōng tiān, yīn wèi kě yǐ qù huá xuě.I like winter, because I can go skiing.
- B我最怕冬天了，冷天我只想在家喝热汤。Wǒ zuì pà dōng tiān le, lěng tiān wǒ zhǐ xiǎng zài jiā hē rè tāng.I can't stand winter. When it's cold, all I want is to stay in with a bowl of hot soup.
Example sentences
- 你最喜欢哪个季节？Which season do you like best?
- 春天来了，花都开了。Spring is here and the flowers are all out.
- 夏天我们常常去游泳。We often go swimming in summer.
- 北京的秋天最漂亮。Autumn is the most beautiful season in Beijing.
- 这里的冬天很少下雪。It rarely snows here in winter.
- 春暖花开，正是出去玩的好时候。Spring is warm and full of flowers, the perfect time for an outing.
- 立夏以后，天气越来越热了。After the start of summer, it gets hotter and hotter.
- 一场秋雨一场寒。Each autumn rain brings colder weather.
- 冬去春来，天气慢慢暖和了。Winter has gone and spring has come; it's slowly warming up.
- 六月是这里的雨季。June is the rainy season here.
- 冷天我喜欢喝热汤。In cold weather I like to have hot soup.
- 这个城市的气候很舒服。The climate in this city is very pleasant.
Practise speaking
Ready to use these words? The Seasons speaking island has 8 everyday questions about seasons to prepare your own answers to.