Before we look up the nature and animal words in Chinese, let me tell you a story. According to Chinese legend, there are so many stories related to nature and animals. One of them is about a weather family in the sky: 雷公 (léigōng, thunder father),电母 (diàn mǔ, lightning mother), 风伯 (fēngbó, uncle wind), 云童(yúntóng, cloud child) and 雨师 (yǔshī, master rain) Wait! Master rain? Where is he from…he doesn’t belong to this family! Anyway, 雷公 and 电母 are husband and wife. The weird thing is 雷公 killed 电母 accidentally when she was still a human and somehow the king of the Gods ask them to marry each other. Since then, every time before 雷公 sends thunder, his wife 电母 will use flashing mirrors to send bolts of lightning across the sky to remind her husband not to kill the wrong people again.

Nature Words in Chinese
Simplify | China | Traditional | Taiwan | English | Korean | Japanese |
风 | fēng | 風 | fēng | Wind | 바람 | 風 |
海 | hǎi | 海 | hǎi | Sea | 바다 | 海 |
河 | hé | 河 | hé | River / Stream | 강 | 川/河 |
湖 | hú | 湖 | hú | Lake | 호수 | 湖 |
山 | shān | 山 | shān | Mountain | 산 | 山 |
树 | shù | 樹 | shù | Tree | 나무 | 木 |
花儿 | huār | 花 | huā | Flower | 꽃 | 花 |
太阳 | tàiyáng | 太陽 | tàiyáng | Sun | 태양 | 太陽 |
天气 | tiānqì | 天氣 | tiānqì | Weather | 날씨 | 天気 |
雨 | yǔ | 雨 | yǔ | Rain | 비 | 雨 |
雪 | xuě | 雪 | xuě | Snow | 눈 | 雪 |
Examples
To turn 雨yǔ and 雪xuě to verbs, you need to add 下xià in front of them.
今天天氣不好,可能會下雨
今天天气不好,可能会下雨
Jīntiān tiānqì bùhǎo,kěnéng huì xiàyǔ.
Today the weather is not good, it may rain.
花很美,可是你更美
花儿很美,可是你更美
Huā hěn měi,kěshì nǐ gèng měi.
Huār hěn měi,kěshì nǐ gèng měi.
The flowers are beautiful, but you are even more beautiful.
Animal Words in Chinese
Simplify | China | Traditional | Taiwan | English | Korean | Japanese |
马 | mǎ | 馬 | mǎ | Horse | 말 | 馬 |
猫 | māo | 貓 | māo | Cat | 고양이 | 猫 |
狗 | gǒu | 狗 | gǒu | Dog | 개 | 犬 |
鸟 | niǎo | 鳥 | niǎo | Bird | 새 | 鳥 |
鸡 | jī | 雞 | jī | Chicken | 닭 | 鶏 |
猪 | zhū | 豬 | zhū | Pig | 돼지 | 豚 |
牛 | niú | 牛 | niú | Cattle | 소 | 牛 |
鱼 | yú | 魚 | yú | Fish | 물고기 | 魚 |
T.M.I

Do you know there’s a special dog called Taiwan dog?
My dog is a Taiwan dog. Her name is Heilulu. Lovely and sweet, but very timid…
If you come to Taiwan, you will see many Taiwan dogs walking on the streets. Although they are stray dogs, they are very friendly and gentle. So don’t be afraid if you see them while you are traveling in Taiwan.
A1 Nature and Animal