Talking About the Weather in Japanese: Hot, Cold, and More

Basic Weather Vocabulary

Let’s begin with some essential words.

Weather

天気（てんき / tenki）

Today

今日（きょう / kyou）

It’s…

〜です (desu)

A simple sentence pattern you can use is:

今日は〜です。
Kyou wa ~ desu.
“Today is ~.”

For example:

今日は暑いです。
Kyou wa atsui desu.
It’s hot today.

Hot and Cold (For Weather)

Here are the key words for describing temperature:

• Hot (weather): 暑い（あつい / atsui）
• Cold (weather): 寒い（さむい / samui）
• Warm: 暖かい（あたたかい / atatakai）
• Cool: 涼しい（すずしい / suzushii）

Examples:

今日は寒いですね。
It’s cold today, isn’t it?

昨日は涼しかったです。
It was cool yesterday.

Important: Two Different “Hot” and “Cold”

It’s important to remember that Japanese uses different words for temperature depending on whether you’re talking about the weather or an object.

• 暑い (atsui) = hot weather
• 熱い（あつい / atsui） = hot objects (coffee, soup, etc.)
• 寒い (samui) = cold weather
• 冷たい（つめたい / tsumetai） = cold objects (water, drinks, etc.)

For example, if you say:

コーヒーは暑いです。

That doesn’t sound right because 暑い is used for weather. The correct sentence is:

コーヒーは熱いです。
The coffee is hot.

Talking About Rain, Snow, and Sun

These weather words are very common in everyday conversation.

• Rain: 雨（あめ / ame）
• Snow: 雪（ゆき / yuki）
• Sunny: 晴れ（はれ / hare）
• Cloudy: 曇り（くもり / kumori）
• Windy: 風が強い（かぜがつよい / kaze ga tsuyoi）

Examples:

今日は雨です。
It’s rainy today.

明日は晴れです。
It will be sunny tomorrow.

風が強いですね。
The wind is strong, isn’t it?

Note: In Japanese, the present tense is often used when talking about future events like tomorrow’s weather.

Asking About the Weather

To ask someone about the weather, you can say:

今日は暑いですか？
Is it hot today?

Or more generally:

天気はどうですか？
How’s the weather?

That second expression is especially useful in everyday conversations.

Talking About Seasons

Weather and seasons naturally go together. Here are the four seasons in Japanese:

• Spring: 春（はる / haru）
• Summer: 夏（なつ / natsu）
• Autumn: 秋（あき / aki）
• Winter: 冬（ふゆ / fuyu）

Examples:

日本の夏は暑いです。
Summers in Japan are hot.

冬は寒いですが、きれいです。
Winter is cold, but beautiful.

Making It Sound Natural

Here are a few simple tips to help you sound more natural:

• Use ですね to soften statements and invite agreement.

  今日は暑いです。
  It’s hot today.
  
  今日は暑いですね。
  It’s hot today, isn’t it?

• Use the past tense when talking about yesterday’s weather.

  昨日は寒かったです。
  It was cold yesterday.

• Keep your sentences simple. Weather talk in Japanese is usually short and direct.

In Japan, talking about the weather is a perfectly natural way to break the ice. It’s polite, safe, and easy.

A Quick Practice Dialogue

A: 今日は寒いですね。
B: そうですね。とても寒いです。

A: 今日の天気はどうですか？
B: 晴れていますが、風が強いです。

Even with just a few expressions, you can have a real conversation.

Final Thoughts

Weather vocabulary is simple, but it opens the door to conversation. As you get comfortable saying things like “It’s hot” or “It’s raining,” you’ll start noticing how often these phrases come up.

Start small. Practice one or two sentences today. Say them out loud.

Before long, talking about the weather in Japanese will feel completely natural.