作者：小雅和英美友人

1. 下雨、有雨

(1) rain as a verb

(2) it's rainy

(3) it's wet

(4) there's rain

It rains nearly everyday from late June to early July in Shanghai.

六月末七月初上海几乎天天下雨。

这句话描述的是“梅雨季节”，英文叫plum rain season。由于该气候现象只在我国长江中下游、日本东南部和朝鲜半岛最南部出现，只有比较了解东亚的英语母语人士才懂这个词。

It's raining outside. = It's rainy outside. = It's wet outside.

外面在下雨。

It rained just now. = It was raining just now. = There was rain just now.

刚才下雨了。

It's rainy today. = There's rain today.

今天有雨。

It's getting rainy. = It has started to rain.

（开始）下雨了。

2. 下雨的“下”

(1) come down

The rain is finally coming down.

雨终于下了。

用go down和rain搭配是不对的。

(2) fall

The rain has started to fall. = The rain has started to come down.

雨开始下了。

(3) pour, pour down 专指大雨

It is pouring. = It's pouring rain. = The rain is pouring down. = The rain is coming down in sheets.

大雨倾泻而下。

3. 雨大了

(1) get heavier

(2) get rainier

(3) more rain

(4) rain harder

The rain is getting heavier.

雨越下越大。

It's rainier now. = There's more rain now.

雨现在下大了。

Is it raining any harder? Do we need an umbrella?

雨下大了吗？咱们用带伞吗？

4. 雨小了

(1) let up (AE) / ease up (BE)

(2) get lighter

(3) less rain

(4) less rainy

The rain is letting up. = The rain is easing up. = The rain is getting lighter.

雨渐渐小了。

It's less rainy now. = There's less rain now.

雨现在小了。

5. 雨停了

(1) stop

(2) end

The rain has stopped.

雨停了。

The rain ended and the sun came out.

雨停了，太阳出来了。

6. Raindrop 雨点

The raindrops fell on the petals.

雨滴打在花瓣上。

7. Sprinkle 掉雨点儿

It has started to sprinkle.

掉雨点儿了。

The weather is nice today. There is a breeze and it has been sprinkling on and off.

今天天气不错。刮着微风，时不时还掉俩雨点儿。

8. Drizzle 毛毛雨

It's drizzling outside.

外面下着毛毛雨。

9. Light rain 小雨

It's raining lightly. = There's a light rain.

雨下得不大。

Rain通常作不可数名词，但是在描述某一场雨的大小的时候，口语中通常在前面加a，虽然不能说a rain，但可以说a light rain。

10. Rain 雨；中雨

We might get caught in the rain if we don't hurry up.

咱们得快点，要不该赶上雨了。

在英文天气预报里，中雨的时候通常就用rain。

11. Heavy rain 大雨

It's raining heavily. = There's a heavy rain. = It's raining hard. We're soaked.

雨下得很大，我们都淋湿了。

12. Downpour, torrential downpour 暴雨

Let's close all the windows tonight since there's going to be a torrential downpour later.

咱们今天晚上得把窗户都关上，因为一会儿有大暴雨。

13. Shower 阵雨

April showers bring May flowers.

四月雨带来五月花。

中文的“阵雨”一词从字面上就能看出降雨的时间不长，是“一阵一阵的”，但是英文的shower并不能顾名思义，因此大多数英语母语人士并不知道showers have short duration，会认为：rain = rain shower = shower，认为shower只是“单位化”的rain，因为shower是可数名词。

The rain helps the crops to grow. = Showers help the crops to grow.

雨水可以帮助庄稼生长。

There's rain headed our way. = There's a shower headed our way.

雨朝咱们这边来了。

14. Thunderstorm 雷雨

During the thunderstorm, you'll hear the thunder and see the lightning.

雷阵雨的时候，你会听到雷声，看到闪电。

英文天气预报里会出现scattered thunderstorms和isolated thunderstorms，它们都表示局部有雷阵雨，前者表示30%-50%的地区可能下雨，后者表示10%-20%的地区可能下雨。这两个概念的区分一般英语母语人士也不知道，大家通常就用scattered thunderstorms。

15. Storms

Storm分以下几种，但是平时说到storm这个词，大家会默认是thunderstorm。

windstorm: only wind 风暴

rainstorm: rain + wind 暴雨

thunderstorm: thunder + rain + wind 雷雨

sandstorm: sand + wind 沙尘暴

snowstorm: snow + wind 暴风雪

blizzard: severe snowstorm 大暴风雪