kyou wa samukatta desu.

topic particle

Breakdown of kyou wa samukatta desu.

• です: to be
• 今きょ日う: today
• 寒さむい: cold

Questions & Answers about kyou wa samukatta desu.

Why is the particle は pronounced “wa” and not “ha”?

When は functions as the topic marker in Japanese grammar, its pronunciation changes from the usual “ha” to “wa.” This is an exception you’ll see only with the topic marker; in all other contexts (like in the word はな for “flower”) it’s pronounced “ha.”

What exactly does 今日は mean here?

今日は is 今日 (きょう, “today”) plus the topic marker は. It doesn’t translate directly as “today is,” but more like “as for today…” It sets 今日 as the topic of the sentence.

Why don’t we use the subject “it” like in English, as in “It was cold today”?

Japanese often omits subjects (and objects) when they can be inferred from context. Here the listener knows you’re talking about the weather, so there’s no need to say something equivalent to “it.”

Why is 寒かった used instead of 寒い?

寒い is the present/future-tense form of the adjective “cold.” To express past tense with an い-adjective, you replace ～い with ～かった, giving 寒かった (“was cold”).

What is the role of です after 寒かった?