Key Facts
- Hangul: 뜨겁다 (tteugeopda)
- Meaning: hot (to touch, water)
- Level: A1
- Part of speech: adjective
- Stem: 뜨겁
- Conjugation class: ㅂ-irregular
- Grammar: Takes 이/가 for the thing that is hot.
- Usage: ㅂ-irregular: 뜨거워요. Typical collocations are 뜨거운 물, 뜨거운 국, 뜨거운 커피.
What Does 뜨겁다 Mean?
뜨겁다 describes things you touch or drink: 뜨거운 물, 뜨거운 국, 뜨거운 커피. The hot thing takes 이/가, as in 커피가 아주 뜨거워요.
For a hot day, Korean normally uses 덥다 instead; 뜨겁다 reaches the weather only for fierce, burning sunshine. For chili heat Korean uses a taste word.
Senses:
- hot (to the touch, water, food): Describes high temperature of things you touch or drink, e.g. 뜨거운 물.
How Do You Pronounce 뜨겁다?
In speech 뜨겁다 sounds like [뜨겁따], with the closing ㅂ hardening the following ㄷ. The same holds for 뜨겁습니다 [뜨겁씀니다] and 뜨겁겠어요 [뜨겁께써요]. After the ㅂ turns into 우/워, the past 뜨거웠어요 is [뜨거워써요].
How Do You Use 뜨겁다 in a Sentence?
커피가 아주 뜨거워요.
The coffee is very hot.
커피가 아주 뜨거워요 uses 아주 for 'very' and shows 뜨거워요, with ㅂ turned into 워.
뜨거운 물을 조심하세요.
Be careful with the hot water.
뜨거운 물을 조심하세요 uses the modifier 뜨거운 before 물 and a polite warning.
국이 뜨거워서 못 마셔요.
The soup is hot, so I can't drink it.
국이 뜨거워서 못 마셔요 gives the cause with 뜨거워서 and the inability with 못.
How Does Tteugeopda Conjugation Work?
뜨겁다 is a ㅂ-irregular adjective. Before a vowel ending, the ㅂ turns into 우 and 우 + 어 merges to 워: 뜨거워요, 뜨거웠어요, 뜨거워서. The 으 endings give 뜨거우세요, 뜨거우면 and 뜨거운. Consonant endings keep the ㅂ: 뜨겁습니다, 뜨겁지, 뜨겁겠어요.
뜨겁다
| Form | Korean | Romanization | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polite present | 뜨거워요 | ||
| Polite past | 뜨거웠어요 | ||
| Polite future (plan) | 뜨거울 거예요 | ||
| Polite future (intention or guess) | 뜨겁겠어요 | ||
| Formal present | 뜨겁습니다 | ||
| Formal past | 뜨거웠습니다 | ||
| Formal future | 뜨거울 것입니다 | ||
| Casual present | 뜨거워 | ||
| Casual past | 뜨거웠어 | ||
| Casual future | 뜨거울 거야 | ||
| Honorific polite | 뜨거우세요 | ||
| Because / and then | 뜨거워서 | ||
| If (conditional) | 뜨거우면 | ||
| Present modifier (before a noun) | 뜨거운 | ||
| Past modifier (before a noun) | 뜨거웠던 | ||
| Future modifier (before a noun) | 뜨거울 | ||
| Negative with 안 (short) | 안 뜨거워요 | ||
| Negative (long form) | 뜨겁지 않아요 |
For a word meaning 'hot to the touch', -고 싶다 has no cell, because that ending attaches to action verbs.
Sound Changes
| Form | Korean | Sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| Polite past | 뜨거웠어요 | [뜨거워써요] |
| Polite future | 뜨거울 거예요 | [뜨거울꺼예요] |
| Polite future guess | 뜨겁겠어요 | [뜨겁께써요] |
| Formal present | 뜨겁습니다 | [뜨겁씀니다] |
| Formal past | 뜨거웠습니다 | [뜨거웓씀니다] |
| Formal future | 뜨거울 것입니다 | [뜨거울꺼심니다] |
| Casual past | 뜨거웠어 | [뜨거워써] |
| Past modifier | 뜨거웠던 | [뜨거웓떤] |
| Long negative | 뜨겁지 않아요 | [뜨겁찌 아나요] |
Common Mistake
Wrong: ✗ 뜨겁어요
Correct: ✓ 뜨거워요
Why: 뜨겁다 is a ㅂ-irregular: ㅂ becomes 워 before an 어 ending, so 뜨거워요. The formal 뜨겁습니다 keeps ㅂ. A separate trap is meaning: for an ordinary hot day, use 덥다, not 뜨겁다.
Where Does 뜨겁다 Turn up in Daily Talk?
Think of things on a table: soup, water, coffee. 차갑다 is the opposite for objects, 덥다 and 춥다 are for weather, and 따뜻하다 is the comfortable warm in between.
What Is Easy to Confuse with 뜨겁다?
| Word | How to tell it from 뜨겁다 |
|---|---|
| 덥다 | 덥다 describes hot weather or feeling hot; 뜨겁다 describes hot objects and liquids. |
| 차갑다 | 차갑다 is the opposite for objects. |
At a Soup Restaurant: Wait before Eating
A server sets down a bowl. The customer notices the heat, and the server explains why it needs a moment.
Server
국이 뜨거워요. 조심하세요.
Gugi tteugeowoyo. Josimhaseyo.
The soup is hot. Please be careful.
Customer
네, 그릇도 뜨거워요.
Ne, geureutdo tteugeowoyo.
Yes, the bowl is hot too.
Server
뜨거운 국은 천천히 드세요.
Tteugeoun gugeun cheoncheonhi deuseyo.
Please take your time with the hot soup.
Customer
아직 뜨거워서 못 먹어요.
Ajik tteugeowoseo mot meogeoyo.
It’s still too hot for me to eat.
뜨거워요 reports the temperature, 뜨거운 modifies 국, and 뜨거워서 gives the reason the customer cannot eat yet. 그릇도 adds the bowl to the warning. 아직 means “still”: the customer expects the soup to cool, rather than rejecting it because of its flavor.
Hot Temperature, Spicy Flavor, and Warm Feelings
뜨거운 물, 뜨거운 국 and 뜨거운 커피 are literal temperature descriptions. A soup can be 뜨겁다 even when it contains no chili. 맵다 describes spicy flavor. The same bowl can be both hot in temperature and spicy in taste, so one adjective does not replace the other.
뜨거운 박수 means enthusiastic applause. The image is heat, but the meaning is strong approval expressed by the audience. 뜨거운 관심 describes intense interest, often in a performer, event or issue. Neither phrase measures temperature. These combinations help explain why a performance review may contain 뜨겁다 without mentioning food or weather.
뜨거운 눈물 means hot tears and can emphasize strong emotion. The surrounding story supplies the cause, such as grief or joy. The adjective alone does not tell you which emotion someone feels. Learn the noun with the adjective before deciding whether the phrase is literal or emotional.
Where Will You Hear or See 뜨겁다?
At a restaurant, a server may warn that a bowl, plate or soup is 뜨거워요. The warning can concern the container as well as the food. In a kitchen, 뜨거운 물 points to water whose temperature matters for handling or cooking. The word describes high heat without giving a fixed temperature threshold.
On a tap or appliance, 온수 means hot water. That noun label identifies the water supply, while 뜨겁다 describes how hot the water feels. A warning using 뜨거움 is a noun-like label meaning “hotness” or “hot”. A spoken warning usually adds an ending, such as 뜨거워요.
Entertainment news and event introductions use 뜨거운 박수 or 뜨거운 관심 for an enthusiastic response. In everyday conversation about the weather, 덥다 remains the usual choice for feeling hot. With sunshine that feels burning on the skin, 뜨겁다 can describe the sun’s heat more directly.
Words for Heat at the Table
| Korean | Meaning | Useful distinction |
|---|---|---|
| 맵다 | spicy | Describes flavor, even after a dish cools. |
| 따뜻하다 | warm | Usually suggests a more comfortable temperature. |
| 식다 | to cool down | The food or drink loses heat by itself. |
| 식히다 | to cool something | Someone deliberately lets or makes it cool. |
The restaurant vocabulary lesson teaches the serving and ordering words around these descriptions. Naming the dish or container makes a heat warning clearer than using the adjective alone.
Two Branches of the ㅂ Pattern
Compare 뜨거워요 with 뜨겁습니다. The polite present takes the vowel-ending branch, where ㅂ changes and 우 combines with 어 to make 워. The formal present attaches a consonant ending and keeps ㅂ. Switching speech style therefore changes the visible stem shape as well as the ending.
The noun modifier 뜨거운 follows the changing branch too; the negative 뜨겁지 않아요 keeps ㅂ before 지. In the table, 뜨거우세요 is an honorific form, but a hot bowl does not need to be honored. Use 뜨거워요 or 뜨겁습니다 when politely warning a customer about soup.
Mini Drill: Choose the Right Form
- Give the polite present: 뜨겁다 → ____.
- Complete “hot coffee”: ____ 커피.
- Give the formal present, keeping or changing ㅂ as needed.
- Use the because-form for “because it is hot”.
Show drill answers
- 뜨거워요.
- 뜨거운 커피.
- 뜨겁습니다.
- 뜨거워서.
Quick Self-Test
- Which adjective describes chili heat: 뜨겁다 or 맵다?
- Does 뜨거운 박수 refer to physically hot hands?
- Why does 뜨겁습니다 keep ㅂ?
Show answers
- 맵다.
- No. It means enthusiastic applause.
- The consonant ending 습니다 does not trigger the ㅂ change.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Do I Say "the Coffee Is Hot"?
커피가 아주 뜨거워요.
Can I Say 뜨거워요 for Hot Weather?
Usually not. For a hot day, the everyday word is 덥다. 뜨겁다 is mainly for hot objects, food and water, although it does appear with fierce sunshine and in phrases about a scorching summer.
How Is the Polite Present of 뜨겁다 Built?
뜨겁다 is a ㅂ-irregular. The ㅂ turns into 워 before an 어 ending, which gives 뜨거워요.
What Is the Opposite of 뜨겁다?
차갑다 is the opposite for objects.
Which Words Are Related to 뜨겁다?
The entries closest to 뜨겁다 (hot to the touch) are 차갑다 (cold to the touch), 덥다 (hot, of weather), 춥다 (cold, of weather), 따뜻하다 (warm).
What Should You Learn Next?
차갑다 is the opposite, 덥다 and 춥다 cover the weather, and 따뜻하다 is the pleasant warm. To see why 'hot to the touch' takes the form 뜨거워요, read ㅂ-irregular verbs and adjectives; the Korean verb conjugator tests other stems, and the Korean verb dictionary lists the rest of the family.