How to say “cold” in Japanese | 寒い (さむい、samui)

The Japanese vocabulary「寒い (さむい、samui)」means “cold” and is an い-adjective. We will teach you the conjugation and the example sentences on this page.

Vocabulary Video

Please learn about the pronunciation before you learn the conjugations.

Dictionary & Plain Form, Polite Form

Key Word寒い寒いです
Hiraganaさむいさむいです
Romaji Readingsamuisamui desu
English Meaningcold
(Dictionary & Plain Form)
cold
(Polite Form)

Today is colder than yesterday.

今日きょう昨日きのうより寒い。(Plain Form)
今日は昨日より寒いです。(Polite Form)

ない Form (Negative & Plain Form)

Key Word寒くない
Hiraganaさむくない
Romaji Readingsamuku nai
English Meaningnot cold
(Plain Form)

Today is less cold than yesterday.

今日は昨日より寒くない。(Plain Form)

Negative & Polite Form

Key Word寒くないです寒くありません
Hiraganaさむくないですさむくありません
Romaji Readingsamuku naisamuku  arimasen
English Meaningnot cold
(Polite Form)
not cold
(Polite Form)

Today is less cold than yesterday.

今日きょう昨日きのうより寒くないです。(Polite Form)
今日は昨日より寒くありません。(Polite Form)

Past Tense & Positive

Key Word寒かった寒かったです
Hiraganaさむかったさむかったです
Romaji Readingsamukattasamukatta desu
English Meaningwas cold
(Plain Form)
was cold
(Polite Form)

It was very cold in Hokkaido in winter.

ふゆ北海道ほっかいどうは、とても寒かった。(Plain Form)
冬の北海道は、とても寒かったです。(Polite Form)

Past Tense & Negative

Key Word寒くなかった
Hiraganaさむくなかった
Romaji Readingsamuku nakatta
English Meaningwas not cold
(Plain Form)
軽くなかったです寒くありませんでした
かるくなかったですさむくありませんでした
samuku nakatta desusamuku arimasen deshita
was not cold
(Polite Form)
was not cold
(Polite Form)

It was not as cold last night as I thought it would be.

昨日きのうよるは、おもったより寒くなかった。(Plain Form)
昨日の夜は、思ったより寒くなかったです。(Polite Form)
昨日の夜は、思ったより寒くありませんでした。(Polite Form)

て Form

Key Word寒くて
Hiraganaさむくて
Romaji Readingsamukute
English MeaningN/A

The exact meaning is unclear without knowing the full sentence.


The classroom was cold, so I might have caught a cold.

教室きょうしつが寒くて、風邪かぜをひいたかもしれません。(Polite Form)

Conditional Form & Positive

Key Word寒くなければ
Hiraganaさむくなければ
Romaji Readingsamuku nakereba
English Meaningif ~ is not light

I don’t want to buy a suitcase unless it’s lightweight.

寒くなければふゆもキャンプにきたいですが…


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い-Adjectives