Мені жарко вдома.

I feel hot at home.

Breakdown of Мені жарко вдома.

• мені: me
• вдома: at home
• жарко: hot

Questions & Answers about Мені жарко вдома.

Why is it Мені and not Я at the start of the sentence?

In Ukrainian, feelings like being hot, cold, hungry, etc. are often expressed with the dative case, not with я (nominative).
Мені is the dative form of я and literally means “to me / for me.”

So Мені жарко is more like “It is hot to me” rather than “I am hot.”
This is a very common impersonal pattern:

• Мені холодно. – I’m cold.
• Тобі сумно. – You feel sad.
• Йому страшно. – He is scared.

What case is Мені, and when do I use it?

Мені is the dative case of я. The dative often marks the experiencer of a feeling or a state – the person who is affected by something.

You use the dative in patterns like:

• Мені жарко. – I’m hot.
• Мені холодно. – I’m cold.
• Мені нудно. – I’m bored.
• Мені цікаво. – I’m interested / It’s interesting to me.

So anytime you’re saying “It is X for me” (X = hot, cold, sad, etc.), you’ll likely use мені instead of я.

Where is the verb “to be”? Why is there no verb in Мені жарко вдома?

In the present tense, Ukrainian usually drops the verb “to be” (бути) in sentences like this.
So the full underlying structure is something like:

• (Є) мені жарко вдома. – (There is) hot (for) me at home.

But in normal speech and writing, є is omitted:

• Мені жарко. – I’m hot.
• Мені холодно. – I’m cold.
• Вдома затишно. – It is cozy at home.

The verb бути appears in the past and future, though:

• Мені було жарко вдома. – I was hot at home.
• Мені буде жарко вдома. – I will be hot at home.

What exactly is жарко? Is it an adjective like “hot”?

Жарко is an adverb / predicative word, not an adjective. It describes a state: “(it is) hot.”

Compare:

• жаркий день – a hot day (adjective жаркий modifies a noun).
• Мені жарко. – I am hot / It is hot for me (predicative word describing a state).

So you don’t say Я жаркий to mean “I am hot (feel too warm).”
For physical sensations, use the impersonal pattern:

• Мені жарко. – I feel hot.

Can I change the word order, for example Вдома мені жарко?

Yes, Ukrainian word order is flexible, and all of these are possible and natural:

• Мені жарко вдома. – Neutral: I’m hot at home.
• Вдома мені жарко. – Emphasis on “at home”: At home I feel hot.
• Мені вдома жарко. – Slight emphasis on “for me at home.”

The basic meaning is the same. Moving вдома to the beginning often adds contrast, e.g., “At home I’m hot (but elsewhere I’m not).”

What’s the difference between вдома, у домі, and дома?

• вдома – “at home” (most common, neutral, idiomatic).

  • Мені жарко вдома. – I’m hot at home.

• у домі / в домі – literally “in the house/building,” more physical/location-focused.

  • У домі жарко. – It’s hot in the house.

• дома – exists in colloquial/older use, but вдома is the standard modern form.

In most everyday sentences meaning “at home,” you should use вдома.

How would I say “I’m not hot at home”?

You simply add не before жарко:

• Мені не жарко вдома. – I’m not hot at home.

Other similar negations:

• Мені не холодно. – I’m not cold.
• Мені тут некомфортно. – I’m not comfortable here.

How do I change this sentence to the past and future?

You add forms of бути (to be) for past and future:

• Present:

  • Мені жарко вдома. – I’m hot at home.

• Past:

  • Мені було жарко вдома. – I was hot at home.

• Future:

  • Мені буде жарко вдома. – I will be hot at home.

The pattern is: Мені + було / буде + [state word] (+ place).

Can I use other words instead of жарко, like гаряче or спекотно?

Yes, but the nuances differ:

• жарко – hot (general, strong warmth), very common in speech.
• спекотно – usually about hot weather / climate (scorching, sweltering).
  
  • На вулиці спекотно. – It’s hot outside.
• гаряче – “hot” in the sense of temperature of objects/food/liquid, or figuratively “intense.”
  
  • Чаю гаряче. – The tea is hot.
  • Мені гаряче. – I feel burning hot (less common, sounds stronger / more physical).

For the everyday “I’m too warm,” Мені жарко is the safest, most natural choice.

How would I say “I’m hot at home because it’s summer”?

You keep the same core structure and add a бо / тому що-clause:

• Мені жарко вдома, бо зараз літо.
• Мені жарко вдома, тому що зараз літо.

Both бо and тому що mean “because,” with бо being shorter and more casual. The rest of the sentence keeps the same pattern: Мені + жарко + вдома.