寒い vs 冷たい
JLPT N5 vocabulary · what is the difference?
寒い is the cold you feel with your whole body — the air, the weather, a room. 冷たい is the cold of one thing you touch, drink or hold. If you could point at the cold thing, it is 冷たい; if the cold is all around you, it is 寒い.
When to use each
寒い
さむい
Use 寒い for the temperature of the surroundings — weather, a season, outside, a room — and for how your body feels in that air. The subject is the place or the time, or it is left unsaid because it is just 'it'.
今日は寒いですね。
きょうはさむいですね。
It's cold today, isn't it?
この部屋は寒いので、窓を閉めます。
このへやはさむいので、まどをしめます。
This room is cold, so I'll close the window.
冷たい
つめたい
Use 冷たい for a specific thing that is cold to the touch or in the mouth: water, beer, a floor, someone's hands, the wind on your skin. The subject is the object itself.
冷たい水が飲みたいです。
つめたいみずがのみたいです。
I want to drink some cold water.
手が冷たくなりました。
てがつめたくなりました。
My hands have got cold.
Sentences where only one works
冬は寒いです。
ふゆはさむいです。
Winter is cold.
A season is surrounding air, so 寒い. 冬は冷たい would sound like winter is an object you can touch.
このお茶は冷たいです。
このおちゃはつめたいです。
This tea is cold.
One drink, tasted in the mouth — only 冷たい works. 寒い can never describe food or drink.
外は寒いけれど、部屋は暖かいです。
そとはさむいけれど、へやはあたたかいです。
It's cold outside, but the room is warm.
Both halves are about ambient air, which is why 寒い pairs naturally with 暖かい here.
足が冷たいので、靴下をはきます。
あしがつめたいので、くつしたをはきます。
My feet are cold, so I'll put on socks.
A body part felt as a cold thing takes 冷たい. 足が寒い is not how this is said; 寒い would describe you, not your feet.
Common mistakes
冷たい水を飲むと、体が冷たくなります。
冷たい水を飲むと、体が冷えます。
For your own body getting cold from the inside, Japanese uses 冷える, not 冷たくなる. 冷たい body parts are ones someone else could touch.
このビールは寒いです。
このビールは冷たいです。
Drinks are never 寒い. To a Japanese speaker this sounds roughly like calling a beer 'chilly weather'.
今日は冷たいですね。
今日は寒いですね。
A day is ambient, so it takes 寒い. 今日は冷たい makes the listener look around for a cold object.
Frequently asked questions
What about wind — is it 寒い or 冷たい?
Both are used, and they say different things. 冷たい風 is wind that feels cold on your skin, the usual way to describe a specific gust. 風が寒い is much less common; to talk about the overall chill you normally just say 寒い.
Can 冷たい describe a person?
Yes, and it is a real second meaning: 冷たい人 is a cold, unkind person. 寒い never means this, so keep the two apart when talking about people.
Is there a word for 'cool' rather than 'cold'?
涼しい (すずしい) is pleasantly cool air — a nice summer evening — and it sits on the 寒い side, describing surroundings. For a pleasantly cool object, 冷たい is still the word.