Japanese for Beginners: Describe Food with あつい, つめたい, しんせん, おいしい
Learn to describe food's overall qualities in Japanese with four beginner adjectives: あつい (hot), つめたい (cold), しんせん (fresh), and おいしい (delicious), including polite past forms and natural word order.
By MarcusFood & cafés · Yapr Learn
Japanese has two main adjective types, and three of the four words in this lesson are い-adjectives: they end in い in their dictionary form and change form without any helping verb. The fourth, しんせん, is a な-adjective, so it behaves differently. You will use these words to describe a whole dish or ingredient, not just its taste. For example, あつい describes a hot bowl of soup, つめたい describes a chilled drink, しんせん describes fresh fish, and おいしい says something tastes great. This lesson shows you how to put い-adjectives directly before a noun, how to use しんせん with な before a noun, how to end a polite sentence with です, and how to make polite past forms such as おいしかったです.
By the end, you can…
- describe food as hot, cold, fresh, or delicious using い-adjectives.
- use い-adjectives directly before a noun, use しんせん with な before a noun, and end polite sentences with です.
- make polite past forms like おいしかったです and つめたくなかったです.
Listen once. Try it slowly. Then say it without looking.
Checking available voices…
この スープ は あつい です。
This soup is hot.
Kono sūpu wa atsui desu.
Use あつい for hot food or drinks. It describes the whole dish's temperature, not spiciness.
つめたい ジュース を ください。
A cold juice, please.
Tsumetai jūsu o kudasai.
つめたい before a noun means 'cold'. Use it for drinks and chilled dishes.
この さかな は しんせん です。
This fish is fresh.
Kono sakana wa shinsen desu.
しんせん is a な-adjective, so it needs な before a noun (しんせん な さかな) and です at the end of a sentence.
この ラーメン は おいしい です。
This ramen is delicious.
Kono rāmen wa oishii desu.
おいしい describes overall deliciousness. Use it for any food or drink you enjoy.
きのう の すし は おいしかった です。
Yesterday's sushi was delicious.
Kinō no sushi wa oishikatta desu.
Polite past form of おいしい. Drop い and add かった, then です.
Pronunciation guides are approximate. Slow playback keeps the original pitch.
Make it make sense
Useful pattern
For い-adjectives, put the adjective directly before the noun, with no な: あつい スープ (hot soup), つめたい みず (cold water), おいしい パン (delicious bread). At the end of a polite sentence, add です: スープ は あつい です。For the polite past, change final い to かった and add です: おいしい → おいしかったです; あつい → あつかったです. For the polite negative, change final い to くない and add です: つめたい → つめたくないです. The な-adjective しんせん works differently: しんせん な さかな (fresh fish), and さかな は しんせん です。
When to use it
Use these adjectives to describe a dish as a whole. あつい is for hot food and drinks, such as あつい ラーメン or あつい おちゃ. つめたい is for cold items, such as つめたい ビール or つめたい サラダ. しんせん is common for fish, vegetables, and fruit: しんせん な やさい. おいしい is a general compliment for something you enjoy: この カレー は おいしい です。If you want to talk about taste rather than overall quality, you would use different words such as あまい (sweet) or からい (spicy), but this lesson stays with overall descriptions.
Listen to each line, then take one part and reply out loud.
この スープ は あつい です か。
Is this soup hot?Kono sūpu wa atsui desu ka.はい、あつい です。でも、おいしい です よ。
Yes, it's hot. But it's delicious.Hai, atsui desu. Demo, oishii desu yo.つめたい のみもの も あります か。
Do you also have cold drinks?Tsumetai nomimono mo arimasu ka.はい、つめたい ジュース が あります。しんせん な サラダ も あります よ。
Yes, we have cold juice. We also have fresh salad.Hai, tsumetai jūsu ga arimasu. Shinsen na sarada mo arimasu yo.A little context goes a long way
In Japanese restaurants and shops, staff often use set phrases when serving food, and customers usually respond briefly. Saying おいしいです with a smile is a natural compliment, but saying it too strongly about someone's home cooking can sound exaggerated; a simple おいしいです is enough. When talking about temperature, あつい can also mean 'hot' about weather, so context matters. For drinks, つめたい is neutral and common, while あつい for a hot drink is also fine.
One thing to watch for
Treating しんせん like an い-adjective, as in しんせんい さかな or しんせんかったです.
Try this instead: しんせん is a な-adjective, so use しんせん な before a noun and しんせん です at the end. For example, この さかな は しんせん です。The past polite form is しんせん でした, not しんせんかったです。
Your turn
Try answering out loud before checking a possible answer.
1How do you say 'This ramen is delicious' politely?
Show a sample answer
この ラーメン は おいしい です。
おいしい is an い-adjective and takes です at the end of a polite sentence. You could also say この ラーメン は おいしい です ね to invite agreement.
2Make the polite past form of つめたいです.
Show a sample answer
つめたかったです。
For い-adjectives, drop the final い and add かった, then です. So つめたい → つめたかったです. The negative past is つめたくなかったです.
3Which adjective fits a fresh salad, and how do you use it before the noun?
Show a sample answer
しんせん な サラダ
しんせん is a な-adjective, so it needs な before a noun: しんせん な サラダ. You could also say サラダ は しんせん です at the end of a sentence.
Use い-adjectives like あつい, つめたい, and おいしい directly before nouns (no な) or with です at the end; use the な-adjective しんせん with な before nouns and です at the end. For polite past, change い to かったです, and for しんせん use でした.
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