Questions & Answers about dōngtiān tiānqì hěn lěng, wǒmen zài jiā hē rè chá.
Why is there no word like “is” before 很冷? In English we say “The weather is very cold.”
Chinese doesn’t need a separate verb like “to be” before adjectives used as predicates.
- Pattern: Subject + adjective works like “Subject is adjective” in English.
- So 天气很冷 literally is “weather very cold”, but functions as “The weather is very cold.”
You normally do not say 天气是很冷 in simple descriptive sentences.
是 is usually not used directly before a descriptive adjective unless you’re contrasting or emphasizing something special (e.g. 天气是很冷，可是… “The weather is very cold, but…”).
Does 很 always mean “very”? Is the weather really very cold here?
Not always. In this kind of sentence:
天气很冷
很 is often acting as a linking word between the subject and an adjective, and its degree (“very”) is often weak or even almost neutral.
- You must not normally say 天气冷 as a standalone general statement; it sounds incomplete or too abrupt in neutral narration.
- So 很 is often needed to make the sentence feel natural, even if you don’t really mean “very”.
Depending on tone and context:
- Neutral: 天气很冷 ≈ “The weather is cold.”
- Emphatic: said with strong emphasis, it can mean “The weather is very cold.”
Why do we say 冬天天气很冷 and not something like 天气在冬天很冷?