温柔(wēn róu) - gentle, tender, soft in Mandarin

温柔 (wēn róu) describes a manner, not a temperature. It is the word for a soft voice, an unhurried touch, a person who never raises their voice. It attaches to people and to the things people do: 温柔的性格 (a gentle nature), 温柔地说 (to speak gently), 对我很温柔 (very gentle with me).

You will meet it constantly in songs, novels and the way people describe a partner or a parent. It works predicatively after 很 (她很温柔) and attributively with 的 (温柔的声音), and it turns adverbial with 地 without any other change.

The trap for English speakers is reaching for 温柔 everywhere they would say gentle. A gentle slope is 平缓, a gentle reminder is 委婉, a gentle simmer is 小火. 温柔 stays with human warmth. It is also not the same as 善良 (kind hearted): someone can be perfectly 温柔 in manner and still not be a kind person.