caliente
adjectiveCEFR A1
What does “caliente” mean in English?
warm or hot
warm or hot (describes temperature as a temporary state; used of things, food, drink, and people); predicatively always uses estar, not ser — e.g. está caliente; also used attributively without a copula — e.g. agua caliente, una bebida caliente
Example sentences
El café está caliente.
The coffee is hot.
La sopa está muy caliente.
The soup is very hot.
¿El agua está caliente?
Is the water hot?
How to use it
Caliente is an adjective meaning 'hot' or 'warm' when describing the temperature of an object, liquid, food, or person. Because being hot is a temporary state, caliente always pairs with estar in predicate position, never ser. It also appears attributively without any copula: agua caliente, una bebida caliente. It agrees in number (caliente / calientes) but not in gender — the -ente ending is the same for masculine and feminine.
Common mistake
Do not say 'soy caliente' to mean 'I am hot (temperature)' — in Spanish this means 'I am sexually aroused'. For body temperature use 'tengo calor'; for weather use 'hace calor'; caliente describes objects/liquids only.