What does it mean word for word?
いい天気 is composed of いい (good) and tenki (weather).
Which one should you use?
いい天気 is a noun phrase meaning "good weather," whereas the phrase 天気がいい is a complete sentence meaning "the weather is good."
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
To be polite and suitable for speaking to strangers or superiors, you can use いい天気です. In formal settings, you might use 穏やかな天気ですね (The weather is calm, isn't it?), とてもいいお天気ですね (The weather is very good, isn't it?) or お天気にも恵まれました (We were blessed with good weather). For informal situations, you can use いい天気だね！ (The weather is nice, right?), 今日の天気最高じゃない？ (Isn't today's weather the best?) or すごいいい天気だな (The weather is incredibly nice, isn't it?).
Is it said differently in some regions?
In the Kansai region, people may say いい天気やな to mean the same as いい天気だね.
How does it change in a sentence?
Adding ですね to the end of the phrase, as in いい天気ですね, makes it a natural way to comment on the weather to someone else, similar to saying "It's nice weather, isn't it?"
How do you pronounce it?
ii tenki
When do people say it?
Commenting on the weather is a standard way to initiate small talk with neighbors, shopkeepers or colleagues in Japan.
Did you know?
- While いい天気 refers to the atmosphere, the word 天気 literally translates to 'heaven's spirit' or 'heaven's mood'.
- Japanese has a specific concept called kigo where mentioning 'nice weather' in a certain way can signal a specific micro-season in traditional poetry.
- The prefix お (o) in お天気 (o-tenki) is an honorific used to show respect to the natural world or to add a layer of politeness to the conversation.
Examples in context
- いい天気です。It's nice weather.Tatoeba #2173966 by bunbuku, translation #12437432 by CK
- ここしばらく、いい天気に恵まれてます。We've had nice weather for a while now.Tatoeba #11195092 by small_snow, translation #4141409 by AlanF_US
- 2 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Two neighbors chatting while walking outside.
- 結衣 Yui今日はいい天気ですね。Kyō wa ii tenki desu ne.It is nice weather today, isn't it?
- 大翔 Hirotoそうですね。気持ちいいです。Sō desu ne. Kimochi ii desu.It is. It feels good.
- 結衣 Yuiお出かけ日和ですね。Odekake biyori desu ne.It's a perfect day to go out.
- 大翔 Hirotoはい、散歩に行こうと思います。Hai, sanpo ni ikō to omoimasu.Yes, I'm thinking of going for a walk.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
