The idea
Keep the person in dative and add ist: mir ist kalt, dir ist warm. Do not replace this experience pattern with a nominative adjective description.
One contrast, not a prediction about every learner
Ukrainian мені холодно and German mir ist kalt both use a dative experiencer. This similarity is useful, but the German expression also requires a finite form of sein in a complete clause.
Individual experience, dialect and other languages you know can change which comparisons help. Use the contrast to notice a German choice; do not treat it as a label for a whole group of people.
Repair the transfer
Mir heute kalt.Mir ist heute kalt.Keep the person in dative and add ist: mir ist kalt, dir ist warm. Do not replace this experience pattern with a nominative adjective description.
Examples
- Mir ist an diesem offenen Fenster zu kalt.I feel too cold by this open window.
- Ist dir nach dem Spaziergang wieder warm?Do you feel warm again after the walk?
- Unseren Gästen ist im kleinen Saal zu heiß.Our guests feel too hot in the small hall.
- Dem Kind ist nach der langen Fahrt schlecht.The child feels sick after the long journey.
- Uns ist in den nassen Jacken kalt geworden.We have become cold in our wet jackets.
- Ihr war während der Pause ein wenig schwindelig.She felt a little dizzy during the break.
Read-aloud uses a synthetic German voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.
No German device voice is available. You can still read the text and use the linked listening resources.
Watch out
Do not generalize a source-language pattern to every German sentence. Keep the person in dative and add ist: mir ist kalt, dir ist warm. Do not replace this experience pattern with a nominative adjective description.
Try it yourself
Korrigiere: Mir heute kalt.
Show answer or example answer
Mir ist heute kalt.
Mir ist heute kalt. Keep the person in dative and add ist: mir ist kalt, dir ist warm. Do not replace this experience pattern with a nominative adjective description.
Ins Deutsche übertragen: I feel too cold by this open window.
Show answer or example answer
Mir ist an diesem offenen Fenster zu kalt.
Mir ist an diesem offenen Fenster zu kalt. Keep the person in dative and add ist: mir ist kalt, dir ist warm. Do not replace this experience pattern with a nominative adjective description.
Ins Deutsche übertragen: We have become cold in our wet jackets.
Show answer or example answer
Uns ist in den nassen Jacken kalt geworden.
Uns ist in den nassen Jacken kalt geworden. Keep the meaning of the whole sentence while using the German pattern.
Practice round
Answer three questions, then rebuild three German sentences. We keep your score.
Korrigiere: Mir heute kalt.
Mir ist heute kalt.
Ins Deutsche übertragen: I feel too cold by this open window.
Mir ist an diesem offenen Fenster zu kalt.
Ins Deutsche übertragen: We have become cold in our wet jackets.
Uns ist in den nassen Jacken kalt geworden.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
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Write three German sentences of your own that follow the pattern of “Mir ist heute kalt.”. Check each one for the Ukrainian habit this lesson corrects, then read them aloud.