飓风
jùfēng
The English word "hurricane" is translated into Chinese as 飓风 (jùfēng).
飓风 is used to refer to a hurricane as a specific weather phenomenon.
Meaning: weather phenomenon (noun)
Which one should you use?
While 飓风 is a technical term specifically for a hurricane, the term 台风 is much more common in East Asia when referring to tropical cyclones generally.
How do you pronounce it?
jùfēng
Did you know?
- In Chinese, the word 风 meaning 'wind' is a homophone for the word 风 meaning 'style' or 'fashion'. This leads to playful puns in modern social media where a 'storm' of trends is described using the same character found in 飓风.
- While English speakers use 'hurricane' for all such storms, Chinese speakers in the Pacific use 台风 (táifēng) for most, and 飓风 (jùfēng) almost exclusively to describe storms occurring in the Atlantic Ocean.
- Chinese classifies winds by 'levels' using a numerical scale. When a 飓风 is reported, the news often focuses on the specific 'level' or 'grade' of the wind rather than just the name of the storm.
Examples in context
- 明天有可能会有台风，请注意安全。There might be a hurricane tomorrow, please take care of your safety.
- 那场飓风非常强大。Nà chǎng jùfēng fēicháng qiángdà.That hurricane was very powerful.
- 飓风快要来了吗？Jùfēng kuàiyào lái le ma?Is the hurricane coming soon?
Example conversation
Two friends are watching the weather news on TV.
- 佳怡 Jiayi你看，新闻说有飓风来了。nǐ kàn, xīnwén shuō yǒu jùfēng lái le.Look, the news says a hurricane is coming.
- 俊杰 Junjie这个飓风威力很大吗？zhège jùfēng wēilì hěn dà ma?Is this hurricane very powerful?
- 佳怡 Jiayi是的，风速非常快。shì de, fēngsù fēicháng kuài.Yes, the wind speed is very fast.
- 俊杰 Junjie那我们得赶紧准备。nà wǒmen děi gǎnjǐn zhǔnbèi.Then we must prepare quickly.
