Questions & Answers about kyou wa sukoshi samui desu.
How do you pronounce 今日 and what does it mean?
今日 is pronounced きょう (kyō) and means “today.” It’s a compound of 今 (“now”) and 日 (“day”), so literally “the day of now.”
Why are there spaces between the words in this sentence? Does Japanese normally use spaces?
What is the role of the particle は, and why is it pronounced “wa” instead of “ha”?
The character は here is the topic marker, and whenever it functions as a particle it’s pronounced wa. It marks 今日 (“today”) as the topic of the sentence, so the sentence literally becomes “As for today, (it is) a little cold.”
What does 少し mean, and what grammar function does it serve?
少し (すこし, sukoshi) is an adverb meaning “a little” or “slightly.” As an adverb, it modifies the adjective 寒い, indicating the degree of coldness.
