Getting Ready for Cold Weather | Learn Japanese in English

Sentence explanations

1. 外は寒いです。

   It feels cold outside.

   外

   outside

   寒い

   cold

   です

   polite sentence ending

   More detail

   外 means “outside” or “outdoors” here. In Japanese, 外 can refer broadly to the area beyond the inside of a place; its exact referent is supplied by context rather than by the word alone. A useful contrast is 中 (“inside”): 外は寒いです。 means “It is cold outside,” while 中は暖かいです。 means “It is warm inside.” 寒い means “cold” here, specifically describing the outdoor conditions. It is an い-adjective, so its plain form is 寒い. Its negative form is 寒くない (“not cold”), and its past form is 寒かった (“was cold”). For example, 今日は寒いです。 means “It is cold today.” です makes the sentence polite. After an い-adjective, the adjective itself remains 寒い; です adds polite sentence style rather than changing the adjective into another form. Thus, 寒いです is the polite form of “is cold,” while the more casual form is 寒い. Together, 外は寒いです。 uses 外 as the topic with は, followed by the predicate 寒いです: “Outside, it is cold.” In natural English, the fixed translation is “It feels cold outside.”

2. マフラーを着けてください。

   Wear your scarf.

   マフラー

   scarf

   着けてください

   please wear it

   More detail

   マフラー means “scarf.” It is a noun. In this sentence, を follows it and marks the scarf as the object of the action. Example: マフラーを買います。 — “I will buy a scarf.” 着けてください means “please wear it” or “please put it on.” The main verb is 着ける, meaning “to put on” or “to wear” an accessory or similar item. 着けて is its て-form, and ください after a verb’s て-form makes a polite request. This pattern is reusable: 見てください。 — “Please look.” Together, マフラーを identifies the scarf as the item to be worn, and 着けてください politely asks the addressee to put it on. The Japanese sentence does not explicitly mark possession with a word equivalent to “your”; the fixed translation presents the intended scarf as the addressee’s. The whole utterance therefore means “Wear your scarf.”

3. 手袋も必要ですか？

   Do I need gloves too?

   手袋

   gloves

   も

   too; also

   必要ですか

   is it necessary?

   More detail

   手袋 means “gloves.” It is a noun; the form does not itself mark singular or plural, so context determines whether it refers to one glove or a pair/set. Example: 手袋を買います。 — “I will buy gloves.” も is an additive particle meaning “too” or “also.” It follows the item being added to the discussion: 手袋も means “gloves too.” Here it connects gloves with the previously mentioned scarf, without changing the noun’s form. 必要ですか asks whether something is necessary or needed. 必要 expresses necessity, です is the polite form of the predicate, and か marks a polite question. A useful pattern is Xは必要ですか or Xが必要ですか — “Is X necessary?” In this sentence, the subject of “need” is not stated in Japanese; the fixed translation identifies it as the speaker: “Do I need …?” Together, 手袋も (“gloves too”) and 必要ですか (“are [they] needed?”) produce the polite question “Do I need gloves too?” The question adds gloves to the existing clothing item under consideration and asks whether the speaker needs them.

4. 手袋が手を暖かくします。

   They'll keep your hands warm.

   手袋

   gloves

   手

   hand(s)

   暖かく

   warm

   します

   does

   More detail

   手袋 means “gloves.” It is a noun; the form does not itself mark a particular number, so context determines whether it refers to one glove or a pair/set. In the supplied sentence, the translation supports “gloves.” 手 means “hand” or “hands.” It is a noun, and Japanese does not require this form to show singular versus plural. Here it refers to the hands being kept warm. The particle を marks it as the object affected by the action. 暖かく is the adverbial form of the adjective 暖かい (“warm”). The change from 暖かい to 暖かく allows the adjective to connect to する in the pattern 暖かくする, meaning “make or keep [something] warm.” For example, 部屋を暖かくする means “make the room warm.” します is the polite nonpast form of する (“do”); its base form is する. In 暖かくします, it completes the pattern 〜くする, which describes causing something to have the quality expressed by an adjective. The nonpast form can describe a present effect or an expected effect, so the fixed translation naturally uses “They’ll keep ... warm.” The particle が marks 手袋 as the subject: the gloves are the thing producing the effect. Thus 手袋が手を暖かくします is built as “gloves + subject marker + hands + object marker + warm + make/keep.” Japanese leaves the owner of the hands unstated; the fixed translation supplies “your” as the intended meaning. The whole utterance means “They’ll keep your hands warm.”

5. 私の手袋はどこですか？

   Where are my gloves?

   私の

   my

   手袋

   gloves

   どこ

   where

   ですか？

   is it? / are they?

   More detail

   私の means “my” here. 私 is the first-person pronoun “I/me,” and の links it to a following noun to show possession or another relationship: 私の手袋 = “my gloves.” The possessor comes before the noun in this pattern. For example, 彼の本 means “his book.” 手袋 means “gloves” here. Japanese nouns generally do not mark singular versus plural by changing their form, so 手袋 can refer to one glove or more than one; the fixed translation identifies the intended meaning as plural “gloves.” The word is a noun, not an adjective or verb. どこ asks “where?” It is used to ask about a place or location. For example, 駅はどこですか？ means “Where is the station?” ですか？ makes the preceding statement into a polite question. です is the polite copular form, and か marks the sentence as a question. This form does not itself encode whether the subject is singular or plural; the English “are they” in the fixed translation comes from the intended plural meaning of 手袋, not from ですか？. Together, 私の手袋 identifies the gloves as belonging to the speaker, どこ asks for their location, and ですか？ gives the question a polite form. The whole utterance therefore means “Where are my gloves?”

6. コートの隣にあります。

   They're next to your coat.

   コート

   coat

   隣

   next door; beside

   あります

   is/are located

   More detail

   コート is a noun meaning “coat.” It is written in katakana, as is common for many loanwords in Japanese. In this utterance, it is the reference point for the location; the translation identifies it as the listener’s coat, although Japanese does not mark that possession explicitly here. 隣 is a noun meaning “beside” or “next to.” The pattern Aの隣 means “next to A,” with の linking A to the location noun: 駅の隣 means “next to the station.” Here, コートの隣 means “next to the coat.” あります is the polite nonpast form of ある, used for the existence or location of something nonhuman or otherwise treated as inanimate. The polite form is あります; the plain form is ある. For people and many animals, Japanese normally uses います instead. In this sentence, あります presents the subject as being located at the stated place. に marks the location where something exists or is situated. The complete location phrase is コートの隣に, “next to the coat.” The subject is omitted from the Japanese sentence. With the supplied translation and the preceding question about the gloves, the intended subject is the gloves: コートの隣にあります means “They’re next to your coat.” Japanese commonly leaves a subject unspoken when it is recoverable from context. The utterance does not need a separate Japanese word for “they” here. Together, コートの隣に gives the location “next to your coat,” and あります says that the understood item is located there. The whole utterance therefore means “They’re next to your coat.”

7. 出かける前に、手袋を着けます。

   I'll put them on before I go.

   出かける

   go out

   前に

   before

   手袋

   gloves

   着けます

   put on

   More detail

   出かける means “to go out” here. Its dictionary form is 出かける; before 前に, this plain form presents the event as the time reference: 出かける前に = “before going out.” Example: 寝る前に本を読みます。 — “I read a book before going to bed.” 前に marks an event or time that comes earlier than the main action. With a verb, the verb commonly appears in its plain form before 前に: 食べる前に — “before eating.” Here, 前に has the temporal meaning “before,” not the spatial meaning “in front of.” 手袋 means “gloves.” Japanese nouns generally do not mark singular versus plural, so this noun can refer to one glove or to gloves; the fixed translation identifies the items here as “them.” Example: 手袋があります。 — “There are gloves.” 着けます means “put on” in this sentence. Its dictionary form is 着ける, and 着けます is its polite nonpast form. 着ける can describe putting on or attaching suitable wearable items; for gloves, はめる is also a common verb. The form itself does not encode a subject’s gender or number. Example: 手袋を着けます。 — “I put on gloves.” The particle を marks 手袋 as the direct object of 着けます: the gloves are what the speaker puts on. The pattern Xを着けます can therefore be reused for putting on or attaching an appropriate item. Together, 出かける前に sets the time—“before going out”—and 手袋を着けます states the action—“I’ll put on the gloves.” The whole utterance is: “I’ll put them on before I go.” Japanese 着けます is polite and nonpast; in this context, the English future-like “I’ll” expresses the intended upcoming action.

8. それで、寒い外へ行く準備ができます。

   Then you'll be ready for the cold.

   それで

   then; so

   寒い

   cold

   外

   outside

   行く

   go

   準備

   preparation; readiness

   できます

   can; is possible

   More detail

   それで links this sentence to what came before and means “then” or “so” here. It presents the readiness as the result of the preceding action. This connective is different from だから, which more directly states “therefore” or “because of that.” 寒い means “cold” here and directly modifies 外, giving 寒い外 (“the cold outdoors”). It is the adjective’s plain form, which can be placed before a noun. Its polite counterpart in a predicate is 寒いです; the adjective itself does not take an added gender or number ending here. 外 means “outside” or “the outdoors.” In this sentence it is the destination associated with 行く, rather than a person or object. The particle へ after it marks direction: 外へ means “to the outside.” 行く means “go.” This is its plain, non-past form. Before a noun, it can modify that noun: 行く準備 means “preparation to go” or “preparations for going.” For example, 学校へ行く準備をします。 means “I prepare to go to school.” 準備 means “preparation” or “readiness.” In 行く準備, it is the noun being described by the preceding verb phrase. The construction Nの準備 is another common way to say “preparation for N,” while a verb in plain form can directly modify the noun, as in 行く準備. できます is the polite non-past form of できる. With 準備が, the expression 準備ができる commonly means “be ready” or “have the preparation completed”; it is not necessarily a claim that someone has the ability to prepare something. The ending ます makes the form polite. In a different construction, できる can also mean “can” or “be possible,” so the surrounding noun and context determine the relevant sense. Together, 寒い外へ行く準備 means “readiness/preparation to go to the cold outdoors.” ができます says that this readiness is achieved or is in place, and それで connects that result to the preceding context. The fixed utterance therefore means, “Then you'll be ready for the cold.”