HSK 4 · Lesson 26不管多冷，我都得去上班 However cold it is, I have to go to work

Weather and climate: temperature, wind, the sky. 不管…都… “no matter how…”, 忽然 “suddenly”, 高于 / 低于 “higher / lower than”, degrees and 降温 “a cold snap”.

Speed:Male voice:

Dialogues

A cold snap

A
你听说了吗？明天要降温。
Nǐ tīngshuō le ma? Míngtiān yào jiàngwēn.
Have you heard? It’s getting colder tomorrow.
B
会有多冷？
Huì yǒu duō lěng?
How cold?
A
最低气温零下五摄氏度，还会刮大风。
Zuì dī qìwēn líng xià wǔ shèshìdù, hái huì guā dà fēng.
The low will be minus five degrees, and it’ll be windy too.
B
这么冷！这儿的气候真奇怪，昨天还很暖和。
Zhème lěng! Zhèr de qìhòu zhēn qíguài, zuótiān hái hěn nuǎnhuo.
That cold! The climate here is strange — yesterday it was warm.
A
是啊，这么寒冷的天气在十月很少见。
Shì a, zhème hánlěng de tiānqì zài shíyuè hěn shǎojiàn.
Yes, such cold weather is rare in October.
B
那明天我不外出了，在家待着。
Nà míngtiān wǒ bú wàichū le, zài jiā dāizhe.
Then I won’t go out tomorrow — I’ll stay at home.
A
我可不行，不管多冷，我都得去上班。
Wǒ kě bù xíng, bùguǎn duō lěng, wǒ dōu děi qù shàngbān.
Not me — however cold it is, I have to go to work.

An evening walk

A
你看，今天晚上的星星真亮！
Nǐ kàn, jīntiān wǎnshang de xīngxing zhēn liàng!
Look how bright the stars are tonight!
B
是啊，今天没有云，所以星星很亮。
Shì a, jīntiān méiyǒu yún, suǒyǐ xīngxing hěn liàng.
Yes, there are no clouds today, so the stars are bright.
A
夜晚有点儿凉，风吹得我好冷。
Yèwǎn yǒudiǎnr liáng, fēng chuī de wǒ hǎo lěng.
It’s chilly at night — the wind makes me so cold.
B
树叶都落了，秋天快过去了。
Shùyè dōu luò le, qiūtiān kuài guòqu le.
The leaves have all fallen — autumn’s nearly over.
A
刚才还好好的，怎么忽然下起雨来了？
Gāngcái hái hǎohǎo de, zěnme hūrán xià qǐ yǔ lai le?
It was fine a moment ago — why has it suddenly started raining?
B
快回家吧！
Kuài huí jiā ba!
Let’s hurry home!

New words

📝 Worksheet for this lesson

Grammar

1. 不管…，都 / 也… “no matter…, still…”

不管 + question (多…, 谁, 什么, A不A, A还是B)，都 / 也…

不管 means “no matter”: it’s followed by a question form — 多 + adj., 谁, 什么, A不A or A还是B — with 都 or 也 in the second part: 不管多冷，我都得去上班 “however cold it is, I have to go to work”, 不管你去不去，我都去 “whether you go or not, I’m going”.

不管你去不去，我都去。
Bùguǎn nǐ qù bu qù, wǒ dōu qù.
Whether you go or not, I’m going.
不管谁来，我都不开门。
Bùguǎn shéi lái, wǒ dōu bù kāi mén.
No matter who comes, I won’t open the door.

2. 忽然 “suddenly”

忽然 is “suddenly”, placed before the verb: 怎么忽然下起雨来了？ “why has it suddenly started raining?”. It’s like 突然 (HSK 3), but 突然 can also be an adjective: 这件事很突然 “this is very sudden” — you can’t say that with 忽然.

灯忽然不亮了。
Dēng hūrán bú liàng le.
The light suddenly went out.

3. 高于 / 低于 “higher / lower than”

A written-style comparison: 于 here means “than”. 今天的温度高于三十摄氏度 “today it’s above thirty degrees”, 夜里气温低于零度 “at night it’s below zero”. In speech you’d say 比…高 / 比…低.

今天的温度高于三十摄氏度。
Jīntiān de wēndù gāoyú sānshí shèshìdù.
Today it’s above thirty degrees.

4. Weather and temperature

气候 is “climate” (over time), 天气 “weather” (today). 气温 is “air temperature”, 温度 “temperature” in general. 零下五摄氏度 “minus five degrees Celsius”. 降温 is “a drop in temperature”, 下降 “to fall”: 气温下降了. 高温 / 低温 are “heat / cold (high / low temperature)”. 月份 is “month (by number)”: 七月份.

七月份高温天气很多。
Qīyuèfèn gāowēn tiānqì hěn duō.
July has many hot days.
早晨的阳光很好。
Zǎochen de yángguāng hěn hǎo.
The morning sunshine is lovely.

Exercises

1. Listen and choose the translation

  1. Answer
    明天要降温。 Míngtiān yào jiàngwēn. — It’s getting colder tomorrow.

  2. Answer
    这么寒冷的天气很少见。 Zhème hánlěng de tiānqì hěn shǎojiàn. — Such cold weather is rare.

  3. Answer
    气温下降了。 Qìwēn xiàjiàng le. — The temperature has dropped.

  4. Answer
    夜里下了一场雪。 Yè li xiàle yì cháng xuě. — It snowed in the night.

2. Choose the correct option

  1. ___多忙，他每天都运动。

    Answer
    不管
  2. “Minus five degrees”

    Answer
    零下五摄氏度
  3. Where is 忽然 used wrongly?

    Answer
    这件事很忽然。
  4. “Climate” is

    Answer
    气候

3. Build the sentence

  1. However cold it is, I have to go to work.

    Answer
    不管多冷，我都得去上班。 Bùguǎn duō lěng, wǒ dōu děi qù shàngbān.
  2. The stars are so bright tonight.

    Answer
    今天晚上的星星真亮。 Jīntiān wǎnshang de xīngxing zhēn liàng.
  3. The leaves have all fallen.

    Answer
    树叶都落了。 Shùyè dōu luò le.
  4. I won’t go out tomorrow.

    Answer
    明天我不外出了。 Míngtiān wǒ bú wàichū le.

4. Dialogue: answer as the speaker

You are speaker B. Pick the right reply and the conversation goes on.

A
你们那儿冬天冷吗？
Nǐmen nàr dōngtiān lěng ma?
Is it cold where you live in winter?
B
很冷，常常零下二十多摄氏度。
Hěn lěng, chángcháng líng xià èrshí duō shèshìdù.
Very — often below minus twenty.
A
这么冷！你们还外出吗？
Zhème lěng! Nǐmen hái wàichū ma?
That cold! Do you still go out?
B
当然，不管多冷，大家都上班上学。
Dāngrán, bùguǎn duō lěng, dàjiā dōu shàngbān shàngxué.
Of course — however cold it is, everyone goes to work and school.
A
那夏天呢？
Nà xiàtiān ne?
And summer?
B
夏天很暖和，气温一般不高于三十摄氏度。
Xiàtiān hěn nuǎnhuo, qìwēn yìbān bù gāoyú sānshí shèshìdù.
Summer is warm — usually not above thirty degrees.

5. Translate into Chinese

  1. Whatever you say, I won’t agree.
    Answer
    不管你说什么，我都不同意。
  2. It suddenly started snowing.
    Answer
    忽然下起雪来了。
  3. It’s minus ten degrees today.
    Answer
    今天零下十摄氏度。

💡 Did you know?: Harbin, the city of ice

China is huge, and its climate varies greatly. In Harbin in the northeast, winter often drops below minus twenty, and every year it holds an ice and snow festival: whole illuminated palaces are built from huge blocks of ice. Meanwhile in Hainan in the south you can swim in the sea. The ancient Chinese divided the year into 24 solar terms, 二十四节气, which still appear in the calendar.

Phrase audio — Microsoft speech synthesis (voices Xiaoxiao, Yunyang, Yunxi); syllables and some words — native recordings (audio-cmn, CC BY-SA).