Breakdown of kyou wa sukoshi samui desu.
はwa
topic particle
ですdesu
to be
今日kyou
today
寒いsamui
cold
少しsukoshi
a little
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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?
Japanese normally does not use spaces between words. The spaces here are just for teaching purposes, to show each element clearly:
• 今日 | topic
• は | particle
• 少し | adverb
• 寒い | adjective
• です | copula
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.
Why is 寒い classified as an -い adjective, and what role does it play in this sentence?
寒い (さむい, samui) is an -い adjective (i-adjective) meaning “cold.” In Japanese, i-adjectives can directly act as predicates (verbs), so 寒い here states the condition of the topic (“today is cold”).
What is です doing at the end of the sentence?
です is the polite copula (a linking verb), used to make the sentence polite. In plain form you could say 寒い alone, but with です it becomes 寒いです (“is cold,” polite).
Where is the subject in “今日は少し寒いです”? Why isn’t it stated?
The subject (e.g. “it” or “the weather”) is understood from context and therefore omitted. Japanese often drops subjects when they’re clear to both speaker and listener.
Can you make this sentence more casual by dropping です, and would that change the meaning?
Yes. Dropping です gives you 今日は少し寒い, which is plain/casual speech. The basic meaning (“Today is a little cold”) stays the same, but it sounds more informal.
Why does the adjective 寒い come at the end, rather than after the subject like in English?
Japanese follows a topic–comment or SOV (subject-object-verb) structure. Here, 今日は is the topic, and the comment (“is a little cold”) comes afterward, ending with the copula です. Adjectives in predicate position always appear at the end (just before the copula in polite speech).