The Meaning of kyou [今日] In Japanese

今日
きょう
Romaji: kyou N5

What does 今日 mean?

Translation and Meaning

today, this day

Definition

今日 means ‘today’ — the current calendar day or the span of time around the present day; it functions as a temporal word used to locate actions and events in the immediate present and is commonly used to talk about plans, schedules, and news that concern this day.

Type

noun (名詞), temporal expression/time adverb (時を表す語)

Stroke Order

Meanings

  • 1. As a time adverb placing an action within the present day rather than a past or future day.
  • 2. As a temporal noun emphasizing the whole day as a unit (the events of this day).
  • 3. In slightly different readings, used to convey the sense of ‘nowadays’ or ‘these days’ in literary or set expressions.
  • 4. Appears in compound words and set phrases where its sense shifts slightly depending on formality or grammatical construction.

Origin

The compound appears in writings influenced by Classical Chinese and was adopted into Japanese usage by the Nara–Heian periods; its written form and sense as the present day stabilized through court documents, calendars and classical literature, later evolving in pronunciation and everyday usage into the modern common word for ‘today’.

Composition

  • 今 (ima) — now, the present moment or immediate time.
  • 日 (hi/nichi) — day, the sun, or a calendar day.
  • Together they form the notion of ‘the present day’ or ‘today’, combining immediacy with the unit of a day.

Usage

Used across spoken and written Japanese to indicate the present day; common in casual conversation when stating plans or events, frequent in headlines and schedules for immediacy, and appears in formal contexts with alternative words; attaches to particles to mark time (for example as a topic or temporal adverb) and combines with verbs and nouns to form date-related phrases.
💡 Tips
Picture the sun (日) happening right now (今) — that exact day is ‘today’.

Variations

  • 本日 (honjitsu) — formal, used in announcements and business settings for ‘today’.
  • こんにち (konnichi) — literary/formal variant often found in set phrases or greetings.
  • けふ (kefu) — classical/historical pronunciation seen in older texts and poetry.
  • 昨日 (kinou) — antonym ‘yesterday’.
  • 明日 (ashita) — antonym ‘tomorrow’.

Example Phrases

  • 今日は会社の事務を手伝う予定だ。
    Kyou wa kaisha no jimu o tetsudau yotei da.
    I plan to help with the company’s office work today.
    Lista:
    • 今日は (kyou wa) – today
    • 会社の (kaisha no) – company’s
    • 事務 (jimu) – office work
    • を (o) – object marker
    • 手伝う (tetsudau) – to help
    • 予定 (yotei) – plan
    • だ (da) – is
    「事務」 is a noun meaning office work; here it functions as the object of を in 事務を手伝う.
  • 今日 の 仕事 は もう 完了 した ので 安心 した
    Kyou no shigoto wa mou kanryou shita node anshin shita
    Today’s work is already completed, so I felt relieved.
    Lista:
    • 今日 (kyou) – today
    • の (no) – of
    • 仕事 (shigoto) – work
    • は (wa) – topic marker
    • もう (mou) – already
    • 完了 (kanryou) – completion
    • した (shita) – did
    • ので (node) – so
    • 安心 (anshin) – relief
    • した (shita) – did
    In this sentence, 「完了」 is a noun meaning ‘completion’ used with した to indicate that something has been completed.
  • 今日は友達と恋愛の話をするのが楽しい。
    Kyou wa tomodachi to ren’ai no hanashi o suru no ga tanoshii.
    It’s fun to talk about love with my friends today.
    Lista:
    • 今日は (kyou wa) – today
    • 友達と (tomodachi to) – with friends
    • 恋愛の話を (ren’ai no hanashi o) – romance talk
    • するのが (suru no ga) – to do
    • 楽しい (tanoshii) – fun
    恋愛 is a noun meaning romance; here it forms the noun phrase 「恋愛の話をする」 meaning ‘talk about romance’ (Noun + の + 話をする).
  • 果たして 今日の天気 は どう なる だろう。
    hatashite kyou no tenki wa dou naru darou.
    I wonder how today’s weather will turn out.
    Lista:
    • 果たして (hatashite) – as it turns out
    • 今日の天気 (kyou no tenki) – today’s weather
    • は (wa) – topic marker
    • どう (dou) – how
    • なる (naru) – will turn out
    • だろう。 (darou.) – probably
    果たして is a sentence-initial expression that introduces a question about the outcome; in this sentence it expresses 「I wonder how」 the weather will turn out.
  • 子供の頃の憧れを胸に、今日も小さな挑戦を続ける。
    Kodomo no koro no akogare o mune ni, kyou mo chiisana chousen o tsuzukeru.
    With my childhood dream in my heart, I continue small challenges today.
    Lista:
    • 子供の頃の憧れを (kodomo no koro no akogare o) – dream in childhood
    • 胸に (mune ni) – in the heart
    • 今日も (kyou mo) – today as well
    • 小さな (chiisana) – small
    • 挑戦を (chousen o) – challenge (object marker)
    • 続ける (tsuzukeru) – to continue
    The noun 「憧れ」 means a long-cherished dream; here 憧れを胸に uses the を-marked object with 胸に to express keeping the dream in one’s heart as motivation.
今日