<p>The "it" in "it is snowing" does not refer to anything. It is there because a subject is needed in a declarative sentence in English. Chinese, however, is different in that subjectless declarative sentences are perfectly fine. When we try to translate a sentence such as "it is snowing", it's best to simply ignore the "it". You won't lose anything semantically. </p>

<p>It is snowing.  下雪了.</p>

<p>It is snowing outside. 外面下雪了. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-01T02:20:41.923Z
2017-11-01T02:20:41.923Z
monalisa
<p>It's not correct. <br>
The correct sentence is</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>外面（在）下雪</p>
</blockquote>

<p>In Chinese, as in some other European languages, weather verbs have <strong>zero valency</strong>, which means that they take no arguments, neither object nor subject. Therefore you must omit <code>它</code>.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-31T22:51:35.343Z
什么时候在房子里下雪？。为什么不说‘下雪’？：-）如果也说’外面‘，你还认为’下雪‘是’零价‘的？
Pedroski
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-31T23:08:56.987Z
《外面》是处所补语，跟述语配价无关
blackgreen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-01T08:58:53.367Z
如果是这样的为什么用来？你如何定义’述语‘了吗？
Pedroski
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-31T22:13:28.313Z
2017-10-31T22:13:28.313Z
blackgreen
<p>In English, 'it' refers to 'weather' in "it's snowing outside." </p>

<p>In Chinese, we interpret this 'it' as '天', since 天 could refer to 天气（weather） in this setting. </p>

<p>We say:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>(外面)天正在下雨 // it's raining outside</p>
  
  <p>(外面)天正在下雪 // it's snowing outside</p>
  
  <p>(外面)天正在刮风 // it's windy outside</p>
  
  <p>今天，天（气/儿）很好！ // today, the whether is good!</p>
</blockquote>

<p>However, 天 could be omitted most of time. They will become:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>外面正在下雨 // it's raining outside</p>
  
  <p>外面正在下雪 // it's snowing outside</p>
  
  <p>外面正在刮风 // it's windy outside</p>
  
  <p>今天，天（气/儿）很好！ // in this case, 天 can not be omitted. Otherwise, there is no clue for what subject is being talked. </p>
</blockquote>

<p>Your issue with 它在外面下雪了 is:</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol>
  <li><p>you should replace 它 with 天。</p></li>
  <li><p>外面 is used as adv or adj, so 外面 itself is ok. No need 在.</p></li>
  <li><p>the sentence order; you could consider 外面 as 外面(的)天， so 天(S) + 下雪(V)+ 了(C) . 外面（的） serves as an adj. to modify 天. So, either 外面(的)天下雪了 or 外面下雪了 works. </p></li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-01T00:06:57.937Z
2017-11-01T00:28:56.267Z
2017-11-01T00:28:56.267Z
dan
<p>Just as the title says, would it be correct to use “它” in a sentence like this "它在外面下雪了." or I could just say "在外面下雪了"？</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-31T21:26:45.567Z
it would definitely be wrong, "it was snowing outside" is OP's 2nd choice, see grammar on subjectless sentences, especially those indicating weather conditions
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-31T21:31:04.390Z
"It is snowing outside" in Chinese is just  "外面正在下雪" ( snowing outside)
Tang Ho
<grammar><sentence-structure>
Would it be correct to use “它” in a sentence like this "它在外面下雪了."？
# Would it be correct to use “它” in a sentence like this "它在外面下雪了."？

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-10-31)

Just as the title says, would it be correct to use “它” in a sentence like this "它在外面下雪了." or I could just say "在外面下雪了"？

**Tags:** grammar, sentence-structure

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: it would definitely be wrong, "it was snowing outside" is OP's 2nd choice, see grammar on subjectless sentences, especially those indicating weather conditions  
> **username_2**: "It is snowing outside" in Chinese is just  "外面正在下雪" ( snowing outside)  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2017-11-01. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

The "it" in "it is snowing" does not refer to anything. It is there because a subject is needed in a declarative sentence in English. Chinese, however, is different in that subjectless declarative sentences are perfectly fine. When we try to translate a sentence such as "it is snowing", it's best to simply ignore the "it". You won't lose anything semantically.

It is snowing. 下雪了.

It is snowing outside. 外面下雪了.


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2017-10-31. Score: 2

It's not correct.   
The correct sentence is

> 外面（在）下雪

In Chinese, as in some other European languages, weather verbs have **zero valency**, which means that they take no arguments, neither object nor subject. Therefore you must omit `它`.

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: 什么时候在房子里下雪？。为什么不说‘下雪’？：-）如果也说’外面‘，你还认为’下雪‘是’零价‘的？  
> **username_4**: 《外面》是处所补语，跟述语配价无关  
> **username_5**: 如果是这样的为什么用来？你如何定义’述语‘了吗？  

---

### Answer by username_6 on 2017-11-01. Score: 1

In English, 'it' refers to 'weather' in "it's snowing outside."

In Chinese, we interpret this 'it' as '天', since 天 could refer to 天气（weather） in this setting.

We say:

> (外面)天正在下雨 // it's raining outside
>
> (外面)天正在下雪 // it's snowing outside
>
> (外面)天正在刮风 // it's windy outside
>
> 今天，天（气/儿）很好！ // today, the whether is good!

However, 天 could be omitted most of time. They will become:

> 外面正在下雨 // it's raining outside
>
> 外面正在下雪 // it's snowing outside
>
> 外面正在刮风 // it's windy outside
>
> 今天，天（气/儿）很好！ // in this case, 天 can not be omitted. Otherwise, there is no clue for what subject is being talked.

Your issue with 它在外面下雪了 is:

> 1. you should replace 它 with 天。
> 2. 外面 is used as adv or adj, so 外面 itself is ok. No need 在.
> 3. the sentence order; you could consider 外面 as 外面(的)天， so 天(S) + 下雪(V)+ 了(C) . 外面（的） serves as an adj. to modify 天. So, either 外面(的)天下雪了 or 外面下雪了 works.


---

