Getting Ready for Cloudy Weather | Learn Japanese in English

Sentence explanations

1. 外は曇っています。

   It looks cloudy outside.

   外

   outside; outdoors

   曇っています

   is cloudy

   More detail

   外 means “outside” or “outdoors.” Here it is the topic in 外は, marked by は: “as for outside.” In other contexts, the same word can mean the exterior or outside of something. 曇っています is the polite form of 曇っている. It consists of the te-form 曇って of 曇る (“to become cloudy” or “to cloud over”) plus the auxiliary いる, with います as its polite form. With weather, 曇っている describes the current cloudy state, so the polite expression means “is cloudy.” The ます ending makes it polite; it does not by itself indicate future time. A reusable pattern is Xは 状態, with X as the topic and a predicate describing its condition. For example, 空は晴れています。 means “The sky is clear.” This is a new example, not a statement about the supplied conversation. Together, 外は sets “outside” as the topic, and 曇っています describes its current cloudy condition. The whole utterance means “It looks cloudy outside.”

2. 暖かいコートを持って行ってください。

   Take a warm coat with you.

   暖かい

   warm

   コート

   coat

   持って行ってください

   please take along

   More detail

   暖かい means “warm” here. It is the attributive form of the i-adjective 暖かい, placed before the noun it describes: 暖かいコート = “a warm coat.” This describes temperature or comfortable warmth; it is different from 暑い, “hot,” which is used for excessive heat. コート is a noun meaning “coat.” It is a loanword written in katakana. In this sentence, を follows it and marks it as the object of the action: コートを identifies the coat as the thing being taken, without by itself specifying whether it is definite or indefinite. 持って行ってください is a polite request meaning “please take/carry it along.” 持つ means “to hold” or “to carry”; 持って is its connective form. Combined with 行く (“go”), 持って行く means “take or carry something along when going away.” The ending ください makes this a polite request. Example: 本を持って行ってください。 means “Please take the book with you.” Together, 暖かいコートを identifies a warm coat as the object, and 持って行ってください politely asks the listener to take it along: “Take a warm coat with you.”

3. 風は冷たいですか。

   Does the wind feel cold?

   風

   wind

   冷たい

   cold

   ですか

   polite question ending

   More detail

   風 means “wind” here. It is a noun and can be used as the topic or subject of a sentence. For example, 風が強いです。 means “The wind is strong.” The particle が marks the wind as what is being described in that example; it is not present in the fixed sentence. 冷たい describes something that feels cold to the touch or bodily sensation. Its base form is also 冷たい; this is the non-past form used before です here. It differs from 寒い, which describes cold weather or a cold environment. Thus 風は冷たいですか。 asks about the cold feel of the wind, while 今日は寒いです。 means “Today is cold.” ですか is a polite question ending. です gives the sentence a polite declarative style, and か turns it into a question. It does not itself specify a number or a particular person. A reusable pattern is [topic] は [description] ですか。, meaning “Is/does [topic] have the described quality?” Together, 風は sets “the wind” as the topic, 冷たい describes its felt temperature, and ですか asks politely whether that description applies. The complete meaning is “Does the wind feel cold?”

4. 今日は寒くて、風が強いです。

   It is cold and windy today.

   今日

   today

   寒くて

   cold and…

   風

   wind

   強い

   strong

   です

   polite sentence ending

   More detail

   今日 means “today” here. It is a time expression, and 今日は makes “today” the topic: literally, “as for today.” Example: 今日は暑いです。 — “Today is hot.” 寒くて is the form of the adjective 寒い (“cold”) used to connect this description to what follows. The change 寒い → 寒くて is the -くて connective form for an i-adjective. In this sentence it connects the first description with the statement about the wind: “being cold and …” Example: 部屋は寒くて、暗いです。 — “The room is cold and dark.” 風 means “wind.” It is the noun described by the following predicate. Example: 風が吹いています。 — “The wind is blowing.” 強い means “strong” here, describing the wind’s strength. Its base form is also 強い; this is an i-adjective. The same word can describe other things as “strong,” but here it describes strong wind. Example: 今日は風が強いです。 — “The wind is strong today.” です is a polite sentence ending here. With the i-adjective 強い, the adjective carries the main description, while 強いです presents it politely. Example: 寒いです。 — “It is cold.” Together, 今日は sets today as the topic, 寒くて says that it is cold and connects that description, and 風が強いです says that the wind is strong. The whole utterance means: “It is cold and windy today.”

5. 私の帽子も必要です。

   I need my hat too.

   私の

   my

   帽子

   hat

   も

   too

   必要です

   is needed

   More detail

   私の means “my.” 私 is the first-person pronoun “I,” and の links it to the following noun to show possession or another noun-to-noun relationship. The pattern AのB is reusable for “A’s B” or “B of A.” Example: 先生の本 means “the teacher’s book.” 帽子 means “hat.” It is a noun, and this form does not show whether the hat is singular or plural; the context supplies that information. Example: 帽子を買います。 means “I will buy a hat.” も means “too” or “also” here. It is a particle placed after the element being added to an existing set or situation. In 帽子も, it marks the hat as an additional needed item. Example: 水も必要です。 means “Water is also needed.” 必要です means “is needed” or “is necessary.” 必要 is the base form used in expressions such as 必要だ; です makes the predicate polite. With a noun before it, Nが必要です means “N is needed/necessary.” Japanese often states the needed thing as the grammatical subject, while natural English may express the same idea with a person as the subject: “I need N.” Together, 私の帽子 means “my hat,” も adds that it is needed in addition to something already relevant, and 必要です states that it is needed. Thus the fixed utterance naturally means “I need my hat too.”

6. ドアのそばにあります。

   It is by the door.

   ドア

   door

   そば

   nearby area

   あります

   exists; is located

   More detail

   ドア means “door.” It is a noun and can combine with location expressions such as ドアのそば (“by the door”). For example, ドアの前 means “in front of the door”; 前 is a different location word from そば. そば means the nearby area or vicinity of something. In ドアのそば, the pattern Nのそば means “near/by N”: 駅のそば means “near the station.” Here, の links ドア to the location word そば; it does not mean that the door possesses the vicinity. あります is the polite form of ある, used here for an inanimate thing being located somewhere. The location is marked with に, so Xは場所にあります means “X is located at/in/by the place.” The form あります is not the form used to say that a person or animal is located there; Japanese commonly uses います for living beings. For example, 本は机の上にあります means “The book is on the desk.” The sentence has no overt subject. The location phrase ドアのそばに says “by the door,” and あります says that the understood inanimate thing is located there. With the fixed translation, the complete meaning is “It is by the door.” In the supplied context, the surrounding mention of the hat and the later reference to putting it on support understanding the omitted thing as that item, while the Japanese sentence itself leaves the subject unspoken. Together, ドアのそばに (“by the door”) and あります (“is located”) form a polite statement of an inanimate thing’s location: “It is by the door.”

7. 出かける前に、帽子をかぶります。

   I will put it on before I leave.

   出かける

   leave; go out

   前に

   before

   帽子

   hat

   かぶります

   put on (headwear)

   More detail

   出かける is the dictionary form meaning “to go out” or “to leave.” In 出かける前に, it appears before 前に to identify the event that happens later. Japanese commonly uses a verb’s dictionary form in this time pattern: 寝る前に means “before going to bed.” 前に means “before” here. After a verb, the pattern [dictionary-form verb] + 前に places the main action before that verb’s event. Example: 食べる前に手を洗います。 — “I wash my hands before eating.” 帽子 means “hat” and is the item being put on. The object marker を follows it in the sentence; 帽子を therefore means “the hat” as the object of the action. Example: 帽子を買います。 — “I will buy a hat.” かぶります means “put on” or “wear” headwear in this sentence. It is the polite nonpast form of かぶる; the nonpast form can describe a future action when the context is future-oriented. かぶる is used for items worn on the head, such as hats. Example: 子どもが帽子をかぶります。 — “The child puts on a hat.” Together, 出かける前に means “before I go out,” and 帽子をかぶります means “I will put on the hat.” Japanese leaves the subject unspoken here; the fixed translation identifies it as “I.” The complete meaning is “I will put it on before I leave,” with it referring to the hat named in the Japanese sentence.

8. そうすれば、散歩の準備ができます。

   Then you will be ready for the walk.

   そうすれば

   then / if you do so

   散歩

   walk

   準備

   preparation / readiness

   できます

   can; is possible

   More detail

   そうすれば means “if you do so, then.” It refers back to an action already under discussion: そうする means “do so,” and -ば forms a conditional. Example: そうすれば、間に合います。 — “If you do that, you’ll be on time.” 散歩 means “a walk” or “a stroll.” It is a noun. Example: 毎朝、散歩をします。 — “I take a walk every morning.” 準備 means “preparation” or “readiness.” In 散歩の準備, の links “the walk” with “preparation,” giving “preparation for the walk.” Example: 旅行の準備をします。 — “I prepare for the trip.” できます is the polite nonpast form of できる. This form can mean “can” or “is possible”; with 準備が, the construction 準備ができる means that the preparation is complete or that someone is ready. The nonpast form can describe a future result here, so the fixed translation uses “will be ready.” Example: 準備ができました。 — “I’m ready.” Together, そうすれば introduces a result, and 散歩の準備ができます expresses readiness for the walk. With the understood subject supplied by the fixed translation, the whole utterance means “Then you will be ready for the walk.”