Hello. I'm Kosuke!
Today, let's learn how to say Hot and Cold in Japanese!
I recommend you to check the video below before reading this article!
In Japanese, there are different words between air temperature and temperature for objects!
If you want to remember more vocabulary about temperature and weather, please check these vocabulary list:
Japanese Vocabulary - Weather >>
Japanese Kanji - Weather >>
Below is the index of this article!
1. Summary table
Before discussing details of Hot and Cold, let's check the overview regarding them!
| English | Japanese | Romaji | Kanji |
|---|---|---|---|
| hot (air temperature) | あつい | a tsu i | 暑い |
| hot (object temperature) | あつい | a tsu i | 熱い |
| cold (air temperature) | さむい | sa mu i | 寒い |
| cold (object temperature) | つめたい | tsu me ta i | 冷たい |
If you still don't remember Hiragana chart, please check this:
If you don't know what Romaji is, please check this:
If you want to test your memory of Hiragana, please use this:
All of them are adjectives.
If you study Japanese, you will see many words where the last character is "い(i)", like "あつい(atsui)", "さむい(samui)", and "つめたい(tsumetai)".
In most cases, they are adjectives.
They are the words describing the status of nouns.
(You don't need to care about the name "adjective" so much here.)
In this article, we will study adjectives to describe temperature of noun right after the adjective.
In Japanese, we use word "あつい(atsui)" for "Hot".
When you speak and listen, it's OK for you just to remember "hot is あつい".
However, there is one thing you need to be careful if you write it in Kanji.
| English | Japanese | Romaji | Kanji |
|---|---|---|---|
| hot (air temperature) | あつい | a tsu i | 暑い |
| hot (object temperature) | あつい | a tsu i | 熱い |
When we are talking about the weather and room temperature, we use "暑い(atsui)".
- "暑い(atsui)" is the uncomfortable feeling felt from your body.
When we are talking about the temperature of objects, like tea, a pan, fire, or food, we use "熱い(atsui)".
- "熱い(atsui)" is the stimulation felt from a part of your body.
Let's check the example sentences!
| 1. | きょ | う | は | あ | つ | い | で | す | 。 | ||||
| kyo | u | wa | a | tsu | i | de | su |
Meaning : "Today is hot."
| きょう | ： | today |
If you don't know the particle "は(wa)", please check this:
If you don't know what "です(desu)" is, please check this:
The example sentence is in regards to the weather for today.
So if we write this example sentence using Kanji, "暑い" should be used rather than "熱い".
| 2. | こ | の | お | ちゃ | は | あ | つ | い | で | す | 。 | |||||
| ko | no | o | cha | wa | a | tsu | i | de | su |
Meaning : "This tea is hot."
| この | ： | this | |||||||
| おちゃ | ： | tea |
This example sentence is in regards to the temperature of tea.
So if we write this example sentence using Kanji, "熱い" should be used rather than "暑い".
Do you understand?
Actually, if you still didn't start to study Kanji, you don't need to care about the difference.
You should just remember "Hot = あつい(atusi)".
For additional information, let's talk about another adjective.
It is "thick".
In Japanese, "thick" is also "あつい(atsui)".
But the Kanji is different from the temperature Kanji.
| English | Japanese | Romaji | Kanji |
|---|---|---|---|
| thick | あつい | a tsu i | 厚い |
If you listen to the Japanese sound "あつい(atsui)", it means "Hot" or "Thick".
I am sorry, this is just additional information regarding "あつい(atsui)".
When you say "Cold" in Japanese, you should be careful more than with "Hot".
It is because there are completely different words for "Cold" depending on whether it is for air or objects.
| English | Japanese | Romaji | Kanji |
|---|---|---|---|
| cold (air temperature) | さむい | sa mu i | 寒い |
| cold (object temperature) | つめたい | tsu me ta i | 冷たい |
When we are talking about weather or room temperature, we use "さむい(samui)".
- "さむい(samui)" is the uncomfortable feeling felt from your body.
When we are talking about objects, like tea, a pan, fire, or food, we use "つめたい(tsumetai)".
- "つめたい(tsumetai)" is the stimulation felt from a part of your body.
Let's check the examples of them!
| 1. | あ | し | た | は | さ | む | い | で | す | 。 | ||||
| a | shi | ta | wa | sa | mu | i | de | su |
Meaning : "Tomorrow will be cold."
| あした | ： | tomorrow |
This sentence is future tense.
However, you don't need to care about it.
In Japanese, we don't need to add any word, like "will", even though it is a future tense sentence.
In this sentence, "さむい(samui)" is used.
It is because this sentence is in regards to the weather for tomorrow.
| 2. | こ | お | り | は | つ | め | た | い | で | す | 。 | ||||
| ko | o | ri | wa | tsu | me | ta | i | de | su |
Meaning : "Ice is cold."
| こおり | ： | ice |
In this sentence "つめたい(tsumetai)" is used.
It is because this sentence is about the temperature of an object, "ice".
Do you understand the difference between "さむい(samui)" and "つめたい(tsumetai)"?
"さむい(samui)" is used for the weather and room temperature!
"つめたい(tsumetai)" is used for the temperature of objects!
For extra information, let's talk about "Warm" and "Cold".
| English | Japanese | Romaji | Kanji |
|---|---|---|---|
| warm (air temperature) | あたたかい | a ta ta ka i | 暖かい |
| warm (object temperature) | あたたかい | a ta ta ka i | 温かい |
"Warm" is "あたたかい(atatakai)" in Japanese.
"あたたかい(atatakai)" has two types of Kanji, just like "Hot".
When you talk about weather or room temperature, "暖かい" is usually used.
When you talk about objects' temperature, "温かい" is used.
In addition to that, I would like to talk about different meanings of Warm and Cold.
They are regarding the heart or kindness.
In English, you can say "warm-hearted" or "cold-hearted".
How should we say this in Japanese?
Actually, it is the same as English.
| English | Japanese | Romaji | Kanji |
|---|---|---|---|
| warm-hearted | (こころが) あたたかい | (ko ko ro ga) a ta ta ka i | (心が) 温かい |
| cold-hearted | (こころが) つめたい | (ko ko ro ga) tsu me ta i | (心が) 冷たい |
"こころ(kokoro)" means "heart".
Let's check the examples!
| 1. | か | れ | は | こ | こ | ろ | が | あ | た | た | か | い | で | す | 。 | ||||
| ka | re | wa | ko | ko | ro | ga | a | ta | ta | ka | i | de | su |
Meaning : "He is warm-hearted."
| かれ | ： | he |
| 2. | か | の | じょ | は | こ | こ | ろ | が | つ | め | た | い | で | す | 。 | ||||
| ka | no | jo | wa | ko | ko | ro | ga | tsu | me | ta | i | de | su |
Meaning : "She is cold-hearted."
| かのじょ | ： | she |
I think temperature and kindness doesn't have a direct relationship.
But both English and Japanese have these expressions.
I think it's a little interesting.
What do you think?
Anyway, the most important table in this article is below:
| English | Japanese | Romaji | Kanji |
|---|---|---|---|
| hot (air temperature) | あつい | a tsu i | 暑い |
| hot (object temperature) | あつい | a tsu i | 熱い |
| cold (air temperature) | さむい | sa mu i | 寒い |
| cold (object temperature) | つめたい | tsu me ta i | 冷たい |
If you remember this table, I think it is enough!
I hope this article helps you to study Japanese!
Please enjoy studying Japanese!
Related articles:
Seasons of Japan >>
Light and Dark in Japanese >>
Tall and Short in Japanese >>
Fast and Slow in Japanese >>
Beautiful and Clean in Japanese >>
11 ways to say delicious >>
Hiragana chart >>
Hiragana quiz >>
Particle "は (wa)" >>
です(desu) and ます(masu) >>
Seasons of Japan >>
Light and Dark in Japanese >>
Tall and Short in Japanese >>
Fast and Slow in Japanese >>
Beautiful and Clean in Japanese >>
11 ways to say delicious >>
Hiragana chart >>
Hiragana quiz >>
Particle "は (wa)" >>
です(desu) and ます(masu) >>
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