LESSON NOTES · レッスンノート

N5Lesson notes · Oct 26, 2026

Cold in Japanese: 寒さむい (samui) for the air, 冷つめたい (tsumetai) for things you touch

寒さむい (samui) is "cold" for the weather and for how your body feels; 冷つめたい (tsumetai) is "cold" for things you touch, drink, or get treated like — and "a cold" (the illness) is a different word entirely, 風邪かぜ (kaze).

Dictionaries list both adjectives as "cold", so learners often treat them as synonyms. Native speakers hear the difference immediately. One question sorts most cases: am I describing the air around me and how I feel, or a thing I am touching? The rest of this article covers the verbs, the slang, and the slips I correct most in lessons.

The basics

When do you use 寒さむい?

Use 寒さむい when the environment is cold or when you feel cold. The subject is the weather, the day, the room, or you.

今日きょうは寒さむいですね。 — It's cold today, isn't it? (polite, a very common weather greeting) 寒さむい! ストーブをつけてもいい? — I'm cold! Can I turn the heater on? (casual, family or friends)

You don't need a subject. 寒さむい on its own means "it's cold" or "I'm cold", and the situation fills in the rest. For the wider weather toolkit, see Japanese weather vocabulary.

When do you use 冷つめたい?

Use 冷つめたい when something is cold to the touch or to the taste: a drink, water, a handrail, your hands. It describes the thing, not the day.

冷つめたい水みずをください。 — Cold water, please. (polite, ordering at a restaurant) 手てが冷つめたいね。 — Your hands are cold. (casual, noticing when you touch someone)

It also describes people. Someone who treats you coolly is 冷つめたい, and so is a curt reply.

彼女かのじょは最近さいきん、私わたしにちょっと冷つめたい。 — She's been a bit cold to me lately. (casual, about someone's attitude)

冷つめたい is not automatically "good" or "bad". 冷つめたいビール is a pleasant thing to say, but a shower that is 冷つめたい is a complaint. The context decides.

The slip I hear most: 寒さむい vs 冷つめたい

Saying 冷つめたい about the weather. Learners reach for it because the dictionary said "cold", and the sentence comes out sounding like the day itself is a drink.

✗ 今日きょうは冷つめたいですね。 — Wrong as a weather remark. People will understand you, but it sounds odd. ✓ 今日きょうは寒さむいですね。 — The air is the subject, so 寒さむい.

The fix is a quick check: can I touch it? Air and weather that you feel on your whole body are 寒さむい. But when air or wind is described as a thing hitting your skin, 冷つめたい is natural too: 冷つめたい空気くうき, 冷つめたい北風きたかぜ, 冷つめたい雨あめ. "今日きょうは冷つめたい" as a general verdict on the day is the form that sounds off.

Beyond the basics

What are 冷ひえる, 冷ひやす, 冷さめる and 冷さます?

These share the kanji 冷れい and describe change over time. They pair up as intransitive and transitive verbs.

  • 冷ひえる (hieru) — something's temperature drops and it becomes cold: your feet, a room, the night air, beer in a fridge.
  • 冷ひやす (hiyasu) — you lower the temperature of something: chill a drink, ice a sore ankle.
  • 冷さめる (sameru) — something hot loses its heat and becomes less hot. Feelings cool too.
  • 冷さます (samasu) — you let something hot cool down: blow on soup before eating it.

夜よるは冷ひえますから、上着うわぎ(うわぎ)を持もっていってください。 — It gets chilly at night, so please take a jacket. (polite, friendly advice) ビールを冷ひやしておいたよ。 — I chilled the beer for you. (casual, host to guest) スープが冷さめちゃうよ。早はやく食たべて。 — The soup's going to cool down. Eat up! (casual, parent or friend) 熱あついから、少すこし冷さましてから食たべてね。 — It's hot, so let it cool a little before you eat. (casual, to a child)

The slip I hear most: 冷さめる vs 冷ひえる

Learners say 冷ひえる for tea or soup that has stopped steaming. That is nearly always 冷さめる: the point is that the heat is gone.

✗ お茶ちゃが冷ひえました。 — Not wrong in every situation, but it is not what you want for tea left on the desk. ✓ お茶ちゃが冷さめました。 — The tea has gone cold (it lost its heat).

冷ひえる focuses on the temperature dropping and the state of being cold, so it fits bodies, rooms and the fridge. It is not a strict "hot vs not hot" rule, though: a heated piece of metal can also 冷ひえる. And 冷さめる doesn't mean the thing reached room temperature, just that it is less hot.

冷さめる also goes figurative: 熱ねつが冷さめる (enthusiasm fades) and 冷さめた目め (a cold, detached look).

あの人ひとは冷さめた目めで私わたしを見みていた。 — That person was looking at me with a cold, detached stare. (neutral, narration-style)

冷ひえ性せい (hieshō (hiesh) is a constitution where your body, or parts of it like the hands and feet, gets cold easily.

How do you say "I have a cold" (the illness)?

The illness is 風邪かぜ, and the verb is ひく ("to catch").

風邪かぜをひきました。 — I caught a cold. (polite, telling your boss why you're off) 風邪かぜをひいています。 — I have a cold. (polite, describing your current condition)

The slip I hear most: 風邪かぜ vs 寒さむい

Learners translate "I have a cold" word for word and say 寒さむい. Notice what the wrong sentence does mean: it is a perfectly good Japanese sentence, just not the one intended.

✗ 私わたしは寒さむいです。 — Meant as "I have a cold", but it says "I'm cold (chilly)". (a correct sentence, just the wrong meaning) ✓ 風邪かぜをひきました。 — I caught a cold.

寒さむい alone cannot tell you whether anyone is sick. It says the person feels cold, nothing more.

What does 寒さむい mean in anime and variety shows?

It can also mean a joke has fallen flat. The room "gets cold", and someone reacts with 「さむっ」 or calls it a 寒さむいギャグ (samui gyagu).

さむっ、そのダジャレ。 — Brr, that pun. (casual, teasing; the tone is "that bombed", with a bit of a sting)

Comedy anime and variety shows use it, often with a shiver gesture. It is the same idea as English "that joke bombed".

How do 寒さむがり and 暑あつがり work?

Learn them as set words rather than a rule you can apply to any adjective. 寒さむい becomes 寒さむがり (samugari), 暑あつい becomes 暑あつがり (atsugari). Each describes a person who feels that thing easily.

私わたしは寒さむがりなので、夏なつでもカーディガンを持もち歩あるいています。 — I get cold easily, so I carry a cardigan even in summer. (polite, describing yourself) 弟おとうとは暑あつがりで、冬ふゆでも半袖はんそで(はんそで)だよ。 — My younger brother gets hot easily, he wears short sleeves even in winter. (casual)

For the warm side of this vocabulary, read 暑あつい vs 熱あつい vs 温あたたかい.

Can you intensify it?

Yes, with すぎる on the stem. It is useful for an over-air-conditioned office.

この部屋へや、寒さむすぎる! — This room is way too cold! (casual, a complaint about the air conditioning)

The mechanics of すぎる are in the すぎる guide. For "freezing", you can say 凍こごえるほど寒さむい (kogoeru hodo samui), literally "so cold I could freeze".

Common mistakes

  • Using 寒さむい for a drink. 寒さむいコーヒー sounds like the coffee is shivering. Say 冷つめたいコーヒー, or 冷さめたコーヒー if it was hot.
  • Using 涼すずしい as a polite synonym for 寒さむい. 涼すずしい is a pleasant coolness. Autumn evenings are 涼すずしい; a freezing platform is 寒さむい.
  • Reading 冷つめたいですね as polite. The form is polite, but the meaning is a complaint about how someone treats you. Softer: 最近さいきん、少すこし距離きょりを感かんじるんですが… ("lately I feel a bit of distance...").
  • Treating 冷ひえる and 冷さめる as the same verb. They overlap, but the difference matters. If the point is "the heat is gone", reach for 冷さめる.

Which word fits which subject?

Word Typical subject What it feels like Example
寒さむい weather, the room, you uncomfortable cold you feel all over. As slang, a joke that bombs 今日きょうは寒さむい / 寒さむいギャグ
涼すずしい breeze, evening, autumn pleasantly cool 夜よるは涼すずしい
冷つめたい drink, hands, water, a person cold on contact, or a cold attitude 冷つめたいお茶ちゃ / 冷つめたい返事へんじ
ぬるい bath, beer, tea lukewarm, often a small disappointment, but a bath can be welcome このお茶ちゃはぬるい
冷ひえる body, room, fridge contents temperature drops, ending up cold 足あしが冷ひえる
冷さめる soup, coffee, feelings heat is lost スープが冷さめる
寒さむがり / 暑あつがり a person feels cold or hot easily 私わたしは寒さむがりだ

You can get a definition for each of these in any dictionary. What the dictionary will not tell you is the pairing: 寒さむい goes with the air and with jokes, 冷つめたい with things and people, 冷ひえる with bodies and rooms, 冷さめる with hot things that lost their heat.

Practice

Work out each answer before opening it. Questions 1 and 2 are a pair (寒さむい vs 冷つめたい), 3 and 4 are a pair (風邪かぜ vs 寒さむい), and 5 and 6 are a pair (冷さめる vs 冷ひえる).

1. You are waiting on a snowy platform and want to tell a friend how you feel. Which word: 寒さむい or 冷つめたい?

Show answer

寒さむい — you are describing the air and how you feel, not a thing you are touching.

2. You pick up a metal spoon straight from the freezer. Which word describes the spoon?

Show answer

冷つめたい — a specific object, cold to the touch. 寒さむいスプーン would sound like the spoon is shivering.

3. You want to tell a coworker you have a cold (the illness) and need to leave early. How do you say "I caught a cold"?

Show answer

風邪かぜをひきました — the illness is 風邪かぜ and the verb is ひく. That is the sentence for being ill.

4. A friend in a thin jacket says 「寒さむい」 on a snowy day. Can you tell from that word whether she is sick?

Show answer

No, you can't tell. 寒さむい only says she feels cold. If she wanted to say she had a cold, she would use 風邪かぜ.

5. Miso soup was steaming when served and has been sitting while you talked. Which verb: 冷さめる or 冷ひえる?

Show answer

冷さめる — the soup lost its heat and became less hot. 味噌汁みそしるが冷さめた.

6. In January your bedroom, once warm, feels cold by the morning. Which verb: 冷さめる or 冷ひえる?

Show answer

冷ひえる — a room's temperature dropped and it is cold now. 朝あさは部屋へやが冷ひえる.

7. Your sister wears a coat when everyone else is complaining about the heat, and this happens every summer. Describe her in one word.

Show answer

寒さむがり — a person who feels cold easily. The opposite is 暑あつがり (あつがり).

8. It is a slightly cool October evening, comfortable with a light sweater. Do you say 寒さむい or 涼すずしい?

Show answer

涼すずしい — pleasantly cool. 寒さむい would suggest you wish you had brought more clothes.

9. After someone's joke gets complete silence, what single word might a friend whisper?

Show answer

さむっ — 寒さむい as slang for a joke that falls flat. The mood of the room "gets cold".

10. A coworker used to chat with you, but now answers your messages in one word. Is she 寒さむい or 冷つめたい?

Show answer

冷つめたい — a cold attitude toward a person. 冷つめたい返事へんじ describes the replies themselves.

During a trial lesson, describe your own day using 寒さむい, 冷つめたい, 冷ひえる and 冷さめる, then swap in 寒さむがり.

FAQ

Is there a difference between 冷つめたい and 冷ひえた? Yes. 冷つめたい describes the quality or state: it is cold. 冷ひえた describes the result of the temperature dropping: 冷ひえたビール, 冷ひえた体からだ, 冷ひえた部屋へや.

Is ぬるい always negative? Mostly, for drinks and food. For a bath, ぬるいお風呂ふろ can be a relaxing choice, so it depends on what you expected.

What do I say to someone who looks cold? Ask 寒さむくない? ("Aren't you cold?"). It is a natural way to check on a friend.

Why are the kanji for 寒さむい and 冷つめたい different? They are separate words. As a memory trick only: 寒かん has a roof, so think of feeling cold in a place, and 冷れい has the ice radical, so think of a thing that is chilled. This is a mnemonic, not an explanation of how the characters were made.

Can I use 冷つめたいですね about a person to their face? It is a direct complaint, even in polite form. Close friends hear it as hurt; with coworkers it can sound accusatory, so soften it as in the Common mistakes list.

Is 寒さむがり an insult? It is a neutral description of a person. Whether it teases depends on tone and who says it.

Vocabulary from this article

Tap the block to select all of it, then copy. In Anki: File → Import, note type Basic, separator Tab — the first column becomes the front, the second the back.

寒い	さむい — cold (weather, how you feel)
冷たい	つめたい — cold to the touch, cold in attitude
涼しい	すずしい — pleasantly cool
ぬるい	ぬるい — lukewarm
冷える	ひえる — to get cold, to drop in temperature
冷やす	ひやす — to chill (something)
冷める	さめる — to lose heat, to cool down
冷ます	さます — to let (something hot) cool
風邪	かぜ — a cold (illness)
寒がり	さむがり — someone who feels cold easily
暑がり	あつがり — someone who feels hot easily
冷え性	ひえしょう — a constitution that gets cold easily
上着	うわぎ — jacket
半袖	はんそで — short sleeves
凍える	こごえる — to freeze, to be numb with cold

I'm Yuuki, a Japanese teacher based in Tokyo. I've taught on italki as a Top 1% teacher and watched over 1,500 anime, so most of the example sentences on this blog come from lines I've actually heard students ask about — including this one, which comes up in nearly every beginner's first few lessons. For practice with feedback, Book a trial lesson · $13, or work through Japanese practice exercises first.

Sources: the author's own lessons and standard reference grammars.

More drills like the ones above, plus a timed JLPT-style mock test: Practice · N5 · Read something at this level: JLPT N5 stories with audio

Want to try this in a real conversation?

30-minute trial lesson, $13. Times shown in your own timezone.

Practice it out loud with a Tokyo native. ★5.0 from 358 italki reviews.

See how the lessons work →

Book a trial lesson · $13