atsui or atatakai ? samui or tsumetai ? confusion around warm and cold...

In Japanese, there are several words for "warm" and several words for "cold" and things can get confusing.

Here are some explanations:

1. Translations of "cold"

When speaking about the weather, about how you feel, you have to use the following word:
寒い/さむい/samui

For example:
- It is cold today.　今日は寒いです。(kyou ha samui desu)
- Are you cold (do you feel cold) ? 寒いですか。(samui desu ka)

When speaking about objects, especially food and drinks, the correct word is:
冷たい/つめたい/tsumetai

For example:
- 冷たいサラダ (tsumetai salada): a cold salad (ie served cold)
If you were to use 寒いサラダ(samui salada), you would basically mean a salad which feels cold (needs a jacket ?).

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2. Translations of "warm"

Things get even more confusing for "warm".

When speaking about the weather or about how you feel, you have to use the words:
暖かい/あたたかい/atatakai for warm (Japanese people often refer to it as "nice warm") and 暑い/あつい/atsui  for hot (think about it as "too warm", "not-pleasant warm").

I noticed that in practice, when speaking about the weather, a foreigner will only use the term warm as the equivalent of "atsui". "atatakai" will simply be seen by foreigners as being a good weather "ii tenki ".

Also, please note that orally, "あたたかい/atatakai" is often reduced to "あったかい/attakai", especially in casual contexts.

When speaking about objects, again especially about food and drinks, the correct words are:
温かい/あたたかい/atatakai for warm and 熱い/あつい/atsui for hot.
You can notice that the pronunciation is the same as earlier, but the kanjis are different.

This time, it is generally easier to make the difference between "atatakai" and "atsui". "atatakai" simply means the dish/drink is supposed to be served warm, while "atsui" will imply it is really hot.

For example:
- 温かいサラダ (atatakai salada): a salad served warm (warm pieces of chicken ? melted cheese ?)
- スープが熱くて飲めなかった (su-pu ga atsukute nomenakatta):  I can't drink this soup, it is too hot (notice: this is written in a familiar register, don't use it in polite situations).
- both 温かいお茶 (atatakai o cha) and 熱いお茶 (atsui o cha) are correct. I would personally rather use the first one.

Helps you remember the Kanji through explanation

3. When English is interfering

Recently, English has been interfering and you will hear more and more "hot" and "ice" instead of "atatakai" or "tsumetai" for drinks, in coffee shops for example. If you are not expecting it or are not used to Japanese pronunciation of English words, this may also confuse you ("hot" is pronounced "hotto", "ice" is generally pronounced correctly).


4. Conclusion
I hope this make things clearer to you, here are some final examples:
- 暑い時に、冷たいドリンクがいいね。 (atsui toki ni, tsumetai dorinku ga ii ne): when it is warm outside, it is good to get something cold to drink.

(notice again: this is casual Japanese)
- 温かい内に　(atatakai uchi ni): "while it's hot", often used when telling other people to start eating and not wait for you / your meal, ... (in this context we would add the word どうぞ(douzo) at the end).

Also, Japanese people are too polite to correct you if you make a mistake, so you will have to be careful on your own. Don't stress too much about it though, it will come with time (you can come back here, if you forget which is which or which are the correct kanjis...).

Again, please feel free to ask questions, post a comment, share this post, facebook-like it, google +1 it...

PS: I just noticed another article about this topic:
http://www.maggiesensei.com/2011/05/11/熱い-vs-暑い-暖かいvs-温かい-request-lesson/
(it is focusing on warm/hot but is more complete than this post)

PS2: You probably already have an electronic dictionary but if not, I recommend the Ex-word. I have one myself and got my brother one for his birthday and we are satisfied with them. Click on the picture to get it on Amazon:

The particles "ga" and "kedo", a way to imply your interlocutor

The particles が (ga) and けど (kedo) are often used with the meaning of "but" (just in case you wonder, "ga" is more polite than "kedo" and should be used in formal conversations). For example:
この映画が見たかったけど、時間がなかった。
(kono eiga ga mitakatta kedo jikan ga nakatta)
I wanted to see this movie but I did not have time for it.

But those particles can also be used for something else, something typically Japanese, and this is where things get a bit more complicated. For example:
歯が痛いので、先生に診てもらいたいのですが。
(ha ga itai no de, sensei ni mite moraitai no desu ga)
One of my teeth is hurting so I would like the dentist to examine it but.
Here, the particle "ga" cannot be translated into but as people would simply wonder... but what ?
The meaning is not to bring something new in the sentence that has an opposite meaning from what has been said earlier. The meaning is to indicate that what is being said directly implies the other person. Here for example, you would like the dentist to examine your teeth, so you are expecting the person you are talking to, to do something about it (give you an appointment with the dentist, make a note for the dentist, etc...). I believe the particles "ga" and "kedo" will then simply disappear in the translation. "One of my teeth is hurting so I would like the dentist to examine it". Or we would be more straight forward with what we want "One of my teeth is hurting, could I get an appointment with the dentist ?", "could the dentist have a look at it ?".

The proper way to answer a sentence finishing by "ga" or "kedo" is to acknowledge it (meaning you understand you are supposed to do something about it).
For example:
かしこまりました。少々お待ちください。
(kashikomarimashita. shoushou o machi kudasai)
Of course, could you please hold the line a little bit ?
Or less politely (between friends):
わかりました。ちょっと待ってください。
(wakarimashita. chotto matte kudasai)
Ok, let me see.

Those sentences are generally quite easy to recognize as Japanese people will accentuate the particle "ga" or "kedo" and pause a little bit.

If someone talks to you, ends up his/her sentence with "ga" or "kedo" and you have no idea what you are supposed to do, you should simply ask what you have to do:
私はどうすればよろしいですか。
(watashiha dou sureba yoroshii desu ka)
What am I supposed to do ?

That's it for the particles "ga" and "kedo". Hope you enjoyed it. Don't hesitate to leave a comment...