雨 – Words for Rain in Japanese
There are no shortages of words for rain in Japanese. The seasons and words related to the weather throughout the year are an important part of the Japanese language and Japan. Let’s take a look at how to talk about rain in Japanese
INDEX
What is Rain in Japanese?
The basic word for rain in Japanese is 雨. When you just want to talk about rain in general this is the word to use. But, if you want to be more specific and sound more refined with your knowledge of what is falling from the sky you can learn a few more words.
https://japaneseuniverse.com/2024/02/18/pac-man-in-japaneseconcepts-behind-development-to-global-icon/大雨 – Heavy Rain
大雨 is an easy one to learn. It basically just adds 大 which means large to 雨 and you get Heavy Rain.
小雨 – Drizzle, Little Rain
Next, we have 小雨. The Hiragana or Furigana is not a typo. This is pronounced kosame. In old Japanese the phonological rules differed from modern Japanese and the added s is a remnant of when two vowels would generally not follow each other.
時雨 – Intermittent Rain
時雨 is sudden rain that falls and then stops. This word is used to talk about the rain near the end of fall going into early winter.
霧雨 – Drizzle, Misty Rain
霧雨 is similar to 小雨. It is a hazy or misty rain that can be mixed with fog.
氷雨 – Cold Rain
氷雨 is pushing the definition of rain a bit. It can be cold rain or maybe a mix between rain and ice pellets.
五月雨 – Early Summer Rain
五月雨 literally means May Rain. The Kanji for the word is made of the word for May, 五月, and rain. In the past, there were different words for the months in Japanese. May was 皐. The word 五月雨 is thought to have comes from this word.
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