What is the difference between 冷える and 冷えている?


I came across the following example sentence in a dictionary.

> 今晩は冷えますね。It’s cold tonight, isn’t it?

I thought 冷えます, being a verb, would mean "will become cold". But the
translation above makes it clear that it is the current temperature that is
being talked about.

I also thought that 冷えている would be the correct way to talk about the current
state of the weather. However, example sentences with 冷えている that I could find
in my dictionaries were all about cold beer/watermelons.

> 冷蔵庫にスイカが冷えていますよ。There is a chilled watermelon in the refrigerator.

But surely the distinction between 冷える and 冷えている cannot just be weather vs
beer. I must have misunderstood or overlooked something about tense and aspect
and Japanese verbs.




Assuming this sentence is said in the evening, 冷える in 今晩は冷えますね refers to a
**current** state, not something in the future. That is, the correct
translation _is_ "It's cold (now)" rather than "It's gonna be cold (in the
future)". Basically it's just another way of saying 今晩は寒いですね.

This 冷える is one of those verbs that (sometimes) describes a state rather than
an action. In other words, 冷える used like this is semantically a bit like
adjectives. English has similar puzzling examples (eg. "It sucks" means "It's
bad", and "It rocks" means "It's awesome"), too, and we have to get used to
such stative verb usages one by one.

Note that this type of "adjective-like" 冷える can be used only to refer to
coldness the body is feeling, so it's more like "I feel cold" rather than
"something is cold". When you describe the air or a watermelon, the ordinary
grammar applies.

  * 足が冷える～！ I have cold feet! (present)
  * 冷えますね。 It's cold (now). (present)
  * 空気が冷えます。 The air will be cold. (future)
  * 空気が冷えています。 The air is cold. (present)
  * 冷蔵庫のスイカが冷えます。 The watermelon in the fridge will be cold. (future)
  * 冷蔵庫のスイカが冷えています。 A watermelon in the fridge is (now) cold. (present)

You can use 冷える referring to something in the past or the future:

  * 昨日は冷えましたね。 It was cold yesterday, wasn't it?
  * 今日は冷えますね。 It's cold today, isn't it?
  * 明日は冷えますよ。 It'll be cold tomorrow.




Assuming this sentence is said in the evening, 冷える in 今晩は冷えますね refers to a
**current** state, not something in the future. That is, the correct
translation _is_ "It's cold (now)" rather than "It's gonna be cold (in the
future)". Basically it's just another way of saying 今晩は寒いですね.

This 冷える is one of those verbs that (sometimes) describes a state rather than
an action. In other words, 冷える used like this is semantically a bit like
adjectives. English has similar puzzling examples (eg. "It sucks" means "It's
bad", and "It rocks" means "It's awesome"), too, and we have to get used to
such stative verb usages one by one.

Note that this type of "adjective-like" 冷える can be used only to refer to
coldness the body is feeling, so it's more like "I feel cold" rather than
"something is cold". When you describe the air or a watermelon, the ordinary
grammar applies.

  * 足が冷える～！ I have cold feet! (present)
  * 冷えますね。 It's cold (now). (present)
  * 空気が冷えます。 The air will be cold. (future)
  * 空気が冷えています。 The air is cold. (present)
  * 冷蔵庫のスイカが冷えます。 The watermelon in the fridge will be cold. (future)
  * 冷蔵庫のスイカが冷えています。 A watermelon in the fridge is (now) cold. (present)

You can use 冷える referring to something in the past or the future:

  * 昨日は冷えましたね。 It was cold yesterday, wasn't it?
  * 今日は冷えますね。 It's cold today, isn't it?
  * 明日は冷えますよ。 It'll be cold tomorrow.

