noun HSK 2
snow
Meaning
雪 refers to snow, the white frozen precipitation that falls from clouds in cold weather. It's one of the most fundamental weather-related words in Chinese and appears in many poetic and literary contexts as well as everyday conversation.
Usage
雪 is used both as a standalone noun and in compounds. It's common in weather reports (下雪 'to snow'), seasonal descriptions, and idiomatic expressions. The character appears frequently in poetry and literature as a symbol of purity, coldness, or winter.
Examples
- 01今天下雪了，路上很滑。, .It snowed today, the roads are very slippery.
- 02孩子们在雪地里堆雪人。.The children are building a snowman in the snow.
Measure words
- 场一场雪
- 片一片雪花
Common collocations
- 下雪to snow
- 雪花snowflake
- 雪人snowman
- 大雪heavy snow
Origin
The character 雪 is a pictophonetic compound. The top component 雨 (rain) provides the semantic meaning, while the bottom component serves as a phonetic element. The character literally suggests frozen precipitation falling from the sky.