Meaning of 今日
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- today
How to use 今日
今日 is a more formal or written way to say today, common in news headlines, signs, menus, and official notices. In everyday speech most people say 今天 (jīntiān) instead. Example: 今日特价 (jīnrì tèjià) Today's special offer.
今 (jīn) means now, and 日 (rì) is the sun, which stands for a day. Put them together and you get the day happening now: today.
Common mistake: Learners often use 今日 in casual conversation, which sounds stiff or bookish; say 今天 when chatting with friends. Also keep the 4th tone on 日 (rì) and do not confuse 今 with 令 (lìng), which has a dot-and-stroke bottom instead of 今's short horizontal and turning stroke.
今日 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
今 jīn · modern · 4 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
日 rì · sun · 4 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
Related words
Words that share a character with 今日.
Questions about 今日
What does 今日 mean?
今日 (jīnrì) means "today" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 今日?
今日 is made of 2 characters: 今 (4 strokes), 日 (4 strokes). That is 8 strokes in total.
Is 今日 an HSK word?
Yes. 今日 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Is 今日 used in Japanese too?
Yes, the same characters appear in Japanese, but the pronunciation is different. In Mandarin it is always read jīnrì.
Does 今日 only mean this specific day?
Mostly it means today, but in formal writing it can also mean nowadays or the present era, as in 今日中国 (jīnrì Zhōngguó) China today. Context tells you which sense is meant.