天気は暑かった
tenki wa atsukatta
To say "the weather was hot" in Japanese, say 天気は暑かった (tenki wa atsukatta).
Use 天気は暑かった to describe a past day or period when the air temperature was high.
What does it mean word for word?
天気 (tenki) means the weather, は (wa) marks it as the topic and 暑かった (atsukatta) means was hot.
Which one should you use?
天気が暑かったよ。 is an informal way to say the same thing. The exclamation 本当に暑かった！ means it was really hot. In formal writing you may see この日の天候は非常に暑いものでした, meaning the weather on that day was extremely hot.
How does it change in a sentence?
暑い (atsui) is an i adjective, so its past tense is formed by replacing the final i with katta. The polite past form is 暑かったです.
How do you pronounce it?
It is pronounced tenki wa atsukatta. The small っ doubles the k sound.
What mistakes should you avoid?
Use 暑い for air temperature and weather. Do not confuse it with 熱い, also read atsui, which is used for hot objects like coffee or stones.
Did you know?
- The character for 'weather' in 天気 (tenki) is 天 (ten), which literally means 'heaven' or 'sky'. The word describes the 'mood of the heavens'.
- In Japan, the humidity often makes the heat feel worse, so people use the word 蒸し暑い (mushiatsui) to say the weather was 'steamy hot'. This comes from the word for 'steaming' food.
- During the peak of summer, Japanese people may use the phrase 暑い (atsui) alongside a folding fan or a handheld electric fan, which are cultural staples for managing the humidity.
Examples in context
- 今日の天気は暑かったですね！Today's weather was hot, right?
- 昨日は天気が暑かった。Yesterday the weather was hot.
Example conversation
Misaki and Yota are talking about their weekend trip.
- 美咲 Misaki旅行はどうだった？Ryokō wa dō datta?How was your trip?
- 陽太 Yota楽しかったけど、天気は暑かった。Tanoshikatta kedo, tenki wa atsukatta.It was fun, but the weather was hot.
- 美咲 Misaki大変だったね。Taihen datta ne.That must have been tough.
- 陽太 Yotaうん、本当に暑かったよ。Un, hontō ni atsukatta yo.Yeah, it was really hot.
