Thread: Adverbs/Adjectives [e.g. холодно/холодный]

As an added bonus if anyone can explain why to use Мне холодно instead of Я холодный I will be ever so grateful :P

Why do you say in English I'm cold, while you are the same temperature?
In Russian you will become cold soon after the death, when your body becomes the same temperature as the environment.
Coldness can be felt only by an external observer, when he somehow feels that the object has a lower temperature than him or than he expects.
(You can sometimes use I'm cold, when you talk about you character).
When you say I'm cold, you are not cold but the environment is too cold for you, which is expressed in Russian. Empty it is not used in Russian because Russian allows subjectless sentences. The verb to be is omitted in the Present tense. For or to me is expressed by the dative.
Whether it is an adverb or the short form of an adjective is irrelevant here.

Agree. We do not say "I am cold". Literally, we say: "It is cold to me".

First. "Я холодный." or "Я холоден." would be understood completely differently: either you are talking about your temperament (which is possible: "I am indifferent, nonchalant etc."), or you mean your own body's temperature (which is completely odd).

Second. Impersonal expressions of state (like "it's cold, it's hot, it's difficult, it's interesting etc. etc.) do not require any subject in Russian, but always require an adverb (not adjective!). Please remember that. It is the second use of adverbs (along with the case when they modify verbs). So, "Мне холодное" is impossible in Russian, only "мне холодно" is valid. You can even omit "мне" and say just "холодно" ("it's cold" in English).

Originally Posted by Боб Уайтман

Agree. We do not say "I am cold". Literally, we say: "It is cold to me".

First. "Я холодный." or "Я холоден." would be understood completely differently: either you are talking about your temperament (which is possible: "I am indifferent, nonchalant etc."), or you mean your own body's temperature (which is completely odd).

Second. Impersonal expressions of state (like "it's cold, it's hot, it's difficult, it's interesting etc. etc.) do not require any subject in Russian, but always require an adverb (not adjective!). Please remember that. It is the second use of adverbs (along with the case when they modify verbs). So, "Мне холодное" is impossible in Russian, only "мне холодно" is valid. You can even omit "мне" and say just "холодно" ("it's cold" in English).

Круто, Боб!

Или, как говорит Эрик Картман из мультсериала: "Щикарно!"