[General] The room was cold.

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silver04

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I have two questions concerning the above sentence:

1) How would you understand the sentence: The room was cold.
In what context can you use this sentence if any?

2) Can this sentence be used in the meaning that it is cold in the room or the air is cold in the room?

Thank you in advance.
 

bhaisahab

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1) You can use it if the temperature in the room was low.
2) If the air in a room is cold, the room will feel cold.
 

silver04

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Thank you. So as far as I understand the meaning is about the same but slightly different.
Can I use this sentence (The room was cold) in the following context:
They open the door in the room and felt that it was cold there. The room was cold.
Actuarly a murder had been commited in this room many years ago. That's why the atmosphere was strange and the air felt cold.
Can we say 'The room was cold' in the above context?
 

bhaisahab

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You could say that the room felt cold.
 

silver04

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I see. Thank you so much.
 

Tdol

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They open the door in the room and felt that it was cold there.

It should be opened. I would say something like:

They opened the door to the room, which felt cold to them.
 

silver04

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It should be opened. I would say something like:

They opened the door to the room, which felt cold to them.


Thank you.
 

emsr2d2

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Silver04, please note that there is no need to write a new post to say "Thank you". Simply click on the "Thank" button which appears in the bottom left-hand corner of any post you find helpful. It saves time for everyone.
 
J

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A simple sentence can have many implications, especially with a concept as subjective as 'cold'. There's a big difference between "The room was cold" and 'The room felt cold'.

Many things can make a room cold:

-An older person may feel cold, while younger people feel just fine.
-A person from a colder climate will prefer a lower room temperature.
-Maybe the room had poor quality windows, so there was a draft. Certain parts of the room would be cold while other parts would be just fine.
-If the floor is cold, you will feel cold even if the air is warm.
-If the air is excessively dry, it will feel cold even at what should be a comfortable temperature.
-Maybe it is a storage room, which is supposed to be cold to prevent spoilage to the contents.
-We also sometimes use the word 'cold' to mean unfriendly. Giving someone 'the cold shoulder' is an idiom. Perhaps the people in the room were not very kind, so a stranger entering would not feel welcome. The atmosphere in the room was a 'cold' one.

I'm a little troubled by what Tdol said: "They opened the door to the room, which felt cold to them." It sounds as if they somehow decided that the room was cold before they opened the door and went in.

1. Was the room cold, or was the door cold?
2. Were they already in the room (that's how they knew it was cold) and opened the door to some warmer place to let warm air in?
3. Were they outside the room, and went in, and then they were cold?

The idea that the room felt cold because a murder had been committed there would require some additional context. That room would have to be colder than others in the house for there to be significance to saying "The room was cold".
 
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MikeNewYork

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That's a lot for a simple four-word sentence.
 
J

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Okay, here goes:

I have two questions concerning the above sentence:

1) How would you understand the sentence: The room was cold.
In what context can you use this sentence if any?

2) Can this sentence be used in the meaning that it is cold in the room or the air is cold in the room?

Thank you in advance.

1. I would understand it to mean the temperature was low in the room. You can use that sentence in the context of a room being cold.

2. yes


Better?
 

Tdol

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I'm a little troubled by what Tdol said: "They opened the door to the room, which felt cold to them." It sounds as if they somehow decided that the room was cold before they opened the door and went in.

I see what you're getting at, but from the original we don't know whether they went in or stood in the doorway feeling cold, which is why I didn't add something about entering. Once the door is open, you can feel the temperature.
 
J

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Thank you. So as far as I understand the meaning is about the same but slightly different.
Can I use this sentence (The room was cold) in the following context:
They open the door in the room and felt that it was cold there. The room was cold.
Actuarly a murder had been commited in this room many years ago. That's why the atmosphere was strange and the air felt cold.
Can we say 'The room was cold' in the above context?

May I suggest something like this? 'They felt a chill as they entered the room.' This takes away the confusion over the actual temperature and emphasizes the significance of the past event in the minds of those entering.
 

MikeNewYork

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If by "past events" you mean the murder, there is little evidence to support that.
 

silver04

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I see what you're getting at, but from the original we don't know whether they went in or stood in the doorway feeling cold, which is why I didn't add something about entering. Once the door is open, you can feel the temperature.

I see what you mean. So I will try to clear up the context.
A couple decided to buy a house in the country. And an agent was showing them around an old house. They knew nothing about that house and the agent didn't tell them that many years ago a murder was commited in one of its rooms. They came to that room and after the agent opened the door they felt the cold air and a strange atmosphere in the room.
I don't know whether they went in or not, but I'm pretty sure that they looked inside the room and that the air in that room was colder then in the other rooms of the house. Is it so important to know whether they entered the room or not in this context?
 

Tarheel

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You are not clearing up the context. You are supplying the context.

The real estate agent did not tell the couple that a murder had been committed in the house.
 

Tdol

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Is it so important to know whether they entered the room or not in this context?

Not greatly to me, which is why I left it unclear.
 
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