Kanji: seasons, weather and amounts

Weather is the safest topic for small talk in Japan, and the four seasons (四季しき) are a big part of daily life: what people eat, wear and celebrate changes with them. This lesson teaches the season kanji and four more that you need for comparing and talking about amounts: 去, 同, 多 and 少.

The four seasons

Season	Reading	Months (in much of Japan)
春	はる	March to May
夏	なつ	June to August
秋	あき	September to November
冬	ふゆ	December to February

These are the months the Japan Meteorological Agency uses for its seasonal statistics; how warm or cold it feels depends on where you live — Hokkaido and Okinawa are very different. Between spring and summer, most of Japan has a rainy season (梅雨つゆ), usually around June and July; it starts earlier in Okinawa. Typhoons (台風たいふう) come mostly in late summer and autumn.

Weather words

Japanese	Meaning
晴はれ	sunny; clear
曇くもり	cloudy
雨 / 雪ゆき	rain / snow
むし暑あつい	hot and humid
涼すずしい / あたたかい	cool / warm
気温きおん	air temperature
三十度ど	30 degrees

Typical small talk: きょうは暑あついですね — 本当とうですね. 寒さむくなりましたね (lesson 8). Japanese people often answer with agreement and ね, not with facts.

Last year, this year: 去年

去年 (きょねん) is last year; 今年 (ことし) this year; 来年 (らいねん) next year. They take no particle for time: 去年、日本に来ました. 去 alone is 去る (さる, to leave), a written word.

Not as … as: 〜ほど〜ない

A は B ほど + negative means “A is not as … as B”: 日本の夏はダッカの夏ほど暑あつくないと思います — “I don’t think summer in Japan is as hot as in Dhaka.” The adjective is always negative after ほど. Compare N5 lesson 26: AはBより暑あつい (A is hotter than B).

The same: 同じ and 同じくらい

同じ (おなじ) means “the same”. Before a noun it takes no の: 同じ会社 ✓, 同じの会社 ✗. AとBは同じです — A and B are the same. AはBと同じくらい〜 — A is about as … as B: ハノイの夏は、日本の夏と同じくらい暑あついです.

Many and few: 多い and 少ない

多い (おおい) and 少ない (すくない) are い-adjectives, but they are usually used at the end of a sentence: この町まちは外国人が多いです — “There are many foreigners in this town.” Before a noun, 多い人 ✗ sounds wrong; say 多くの人 (many people, written style) or たくさんの人. 少し (すこし) is “a little”, an adverb: 少し寒さむいです. From this lesson on, 少し and 多い are written in kanji.

Comparing the seasons

An original example — small talk in the break room in November (opinions, not statistics):

山下：グエンさんの国の夏と日本の夏と、どちらが暑あついですか。
グエン：ハノイの夏は、日本の夏と同じくらい暑あついと思います。でも、冬は日本ほど寒さむくないです。
ラフマン：ダッカの夏はとても暑あついです。日本の夏はダッカほど暑あつくないですが、むし暑あついですね。
山下：そうですか。じゃあ、日本の冬は少し大変へんですね。
ラフマン：はい。去年の冬は寒さむくて、びっくりしました。でも、秋は涼すずしくて好きです。

Yamashita: Which is hotter, summer in your country or summer in Japan? Nguyen: I think summer in Hanoi is about as hot as in Japan. But winter isn’t as cold as in Japan. Rahman: Summer in Dhaka is very hot. Japanese summers aren’t as hot as Dhaka’s, but they are humid. Yamashita: I see. Then Japanese winters must be a bit hard for you. Rahman: Yes. Last winter was so cold that I was surprised. But I like autumn — it’s cool.

New kanji: 春, 夏, 秋, 冬, 去, 同, 多, 少

春 (はる), 夏 (なつ), 秋 (あき) and 冬 (ふゆ): with 休み they make 春休み, 夏休み and 冬休み. 去 is in 去年. 同 is 同じ. 多 is 多い and 少 is 少ない / 少し — look carefully: 少 has one more stroke than 小 (small).

Common mistakes

• A positive adjective after ほど: 日本はダッカほど暑あついです ✗ → 暑あつくないです ✓.
• の after 同じ: 同じの会社 ✗ → 同じ会社 ✓.
• 多い before a noun: 多い人が来ました ✗ → たくさんの人が来ました ✓.
• Mixing up 少 (few) and 小 (small): 少し (a little), 小さい (small).
• Reading 去年 as さるとし: it is きょねん.

How to practise

• Compare the seasons in your home town and in Japan in three sentences with 〜ほど〜ない and 同じくらい.
• Start one conversation about the weather this week: きょうは寒さむいですね.
• Write the eight kanji on the worksheet and do the reading and comparison exercises.