The Focus Of This Lesson Is Discussing Weather Conditions
민호 씨, 오늘 날씨가 어때요?
minhossi, oneul nalssiga eottaeyo?
"Minho, how's the weather today?"

The weather and the temperature are always the safest topics for making small talk!

In this lesson, you'll learn how to describe the day's weather and temperature using the pattern A 이/가 B ("A is B") or A 은/는 B ("A is B") or sentence structure.

Asking about the Weather

A common phrase for asking about the weather in Korean is 오늘 날씨가 어때요? (oneul nalssiga eottaeyo?). It literally means "Today's weather is how?" or "How's today's weather?"

You can put different nouns such as 내일 (naeil, "tomorrow)" or  이번 주말 (ibeon jumal, "this weekend" instead of the word 오늘 (oneul "today")

Answering a Question about the Weather

In Korean, you can use the following form to answer a question about the weather or describe the weather:

Usage:

오늘은+ [Adjective]

oneureun + [Adjective]

"Today is" + [Adjective] ("The weather today is..")

오늘 날씨 (oneul nalssi) is the word that literally means "today's weather," and you can use it for many cases, but not with phrases that have a verb in them, such as 비가 온다 (biga onda, "raining"). This phrase has the verb 오다 (oda "to come") in it, so you can only use it with 오늘은 (oneureun) and not with 오늘 날씨는 (oneul nalssineun)

For example:

"It's sunny today."

오늘은 맑다 (oneureun maktta) - Correct

오늘 날씨는 맑다 (oneul nalssineul maktta) - Correct

Note - 맑다 (maktta) is the adjective meaning "sunny" and it doesn't have a verb inside.

"It's rainy today."

오늘은 비가 온다. (oneureun biga onda) - Correct

오늘 날씨는 비가 온다. (oneul nalssineul biga onda) - Incorrect

Note: 비가 온다 (biga onda) has the verb 온다 (biga onda) inside the phrase, so you cannot use it with the noun 오늘 날씨 (oneul nalssi, "Today's weather.")

Various Expressions Used To Talk About the Weather

Here is the list of adjectives and expressions you can to describe the weather in Korean.

Expressions For Talking About How you Feel about the Weather

추워 (chuwo) means "to be cold" as in temperature or weather. 추워 is in the intimate politeness level and comes from the verb 춥다 (chupda), which means "to be cold." You can add -요 (yo) and say 추워요 to be more polite. This is different from 차가워 (chagaowo), which also means to be "cold to the touch." So, for example, you can say 추워 about the weather or a heavily air conditioned room and 차가워 about a cold piece of ice or a cold river after you have just jumped into it.

더워 (deowo) means, "to be hot" as in temperature or weather. 더워 is in the intimate politeness level and comes from the verb 덥다 (deopda), which means "to be hot." You can add -요 (yo) and say 더워요 to be more polite. This is different from 뜨거워 (tteugeowo), which also means to be "hot to the touch." So, for example, you can say 더워 about the weather and 뜨거워 about a hot bowl of rice.

Examples from the dialogue:

1. 오늘은 날씨가 더워요.
   oneureun nalssiga deowoyo.
   "It's hot today."
2. 내일 날씨는 추워요. 그리고 비가 와요.
   naeil nalssineun chuwoyo. geurigo biga wayo.
   "Tomorrow's weather will be cold. And it will rain."

오늘 oneul "today"

오늘 (oneul) is the pure Korean word meaning "today." As well as being used as a noun, it can sometimes be used with other nouns that refer to time, such as 아침 (achim) meaning "morning" and 저녁 (jeonyeok "evening") as in 오늘 아침 (oneul achim, "this morning" or literally "today morning") and 오늘 저녁 (oneul jeonyeok meaning "this evening" or literally "today evening").

In English, "yesterday," "today," and "tomorrow" are combined to describe other days such as the day before yesterday and two days after tomorrow. In Korean, there are individual words to describe from three days ago to four days from now. In addition to 어제 (eoje meaning "yesterday"), 오늘 (oneul, "today"), and 내일 (naeil, "tomorrow," there are words such as 그저께 (geujeokke, "two days ago"), and 그끄저께(geukkeujeokke, "three days ago."). There is also the word 모레 (more, "the day after tomorrow") and  글피 (geulpi, "two days after tomorrow"). These are commonly used in Korean, so be sure to remember them!

It's still possible to say 이일 전 (il-il jeon, "two days ago") or 삼일 후 (samil hu) "three days from now," but it would sound strange to directly translate phrases such as "the day before yesterday" into Korean.

For example:

1. 오늘은 월급날입니다.
   oneureun wolgeupnal-imnida
   "Today is a payday."

씨 ssi "Mr. Ms. Mrs."

The honorific suffix 씨 (ssi) is one the most commonly used among people of relatively equal speech level. In Korean, this suffix is usually added after someone's first name, for example, 철수 씨 (cheolsu ssi) to refer to someone whose first name is 철수 (cheolsu) honorifically. It's added to the end of the full name or the first name.

Unlike English, Korean doesn't use this honorific suffix with a person's surname. 씨 (ssi) is never used when referring to oneself or one's superior, but usually with someone who's at the same level as you, or below. If someone has a job title such as 선생 (seonsaeng) meaning "teacher" or 의사 (uisa, "doctor") it is appropriate to attach the honorific suffix 님 at the end as in 선생님 to show your respect.

For example:

1. 지수 씨는 여름휴가를 어디로 가세요?
   jisu ssineun yeorum-hyugareul eodiro gaseyo?
   "Jisu, where are you going for summer vacation?"

Beating the Heat in Korea

Koreans celebrate some traditionally designated days that are on the lunar calendar (or in Korean 음력 (eumryok) and in summer, there are three special days for marking the beginning, the middle, and the end of the season. These are called 초복 (chobok), 중복 (jungbok) and 말복 (malbok). They take place between June and July in the lunar calendar, or July to August in the solar calendar.

중복 (jungbok) is considered the hottest day of the Summer in Korea, so people try to eat hot dishes, such as 삼계탕 (samgyetang, meaning "chicken soup with ginseng") Korean people believe that the smartest way to beat summer is to eat nutritious and hot soups, so on these three days, you will see long lines in front of restaurants that sell chicken soup.