wǒ gēn péngyou tán tiānqì.

I

Breakdown of wǒ gēn péngyou tán tiānqì.

• 朋友péngyou: friend
• 跟gēn: with
• 天气tiānqì: weather

Questions & Answers about wǒ gēn péngyou tán tiānqì.

What does 跟 mean here? Is it with or and?

Here 跟 most naturally means with. It introduces the person you are talking with:

我 跟 朋友 谈 天气
= I talk about the weather with a friend / with friends

Chinese 跟 can also mean and, so the sentence is a little ambiguous by itself, but in this pattern it is very commonly understood as with.

Why is the word order 我 跟 朋友 谈 天气?

A very common Chinese pattern is:

Subject + 跟/和 + person + verb + topic/object

So:

• 我 = subject
• 跟朋友 = with a friend / with friends
• 谈 = discuss, talk about
• 天气 = weather

English often puts with later, but Chinese usually puts that phrase before the verb.

Why is there no word for about before 天气?

Because 谈 can take the topic directly.

So Chinese can say:

• 谈天气 = talk about the weather
• literally, something like discuss weather

This is normal in Mandarin. You do not need a separate word matching English about here.

Does 朋友 mean one friend or more than one friend?