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Questions & Answers about kyou ha atukatta desu.
What does 今日 mean and how is it pronounced?
今日 is pronounced きょう (kyō) and it means today.
What is the function of the particle は in this sentence?
The particle は marks the topic of the sentence. Here it signals that you’re talking about today. It doesn’t mark the grammatical subject (that would be が), but rather “as for today….”
Why is it 暑かった instead of 暑い?
暑い is the present‐tense form of the i-adjective “hot.” To express past tense (“was hot”), you change the ending い to かった, giving 暑かった.
How do you form the past tense of any i-adjective?
Drop the final い and add かった.
• 寒い → 寒かった
• 楽しい → 楽しかった
• 面白い → 面白かった
What role does です play after 暑かった, and is it necessary?
The です here adds politeness/formality. After an i-adjective in past tense you can optionally add です for a polite tone.
• Casual past-tense: 暑かった
• Polite past-tense: 暑かったです
Can I omit です to sound more natural?
Yes. In casual speech or writing you’d simply say 今日は暑かった. Use です when you need to be polite or formal.
Why are there spaces between words in this example?
Japanese normally doesn’t use spaces. These are inserted for learners to highlight each word or particle. In real Japanese text you’d write 今日は暑かったです。 without spaces.
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“How do verb conjugations work in Japanese?”
Japanese verbs conjugate based on tense, politeness, and mood. For example, the polite present form adds ‑ます to the verb stem, while the past tense uses ‑ました. Unlike English, Japanese verbs don't change based on the subject — the same form works for "I", "you", and "they".
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