What does “jidai” mean in Japanese?
Native speakers say “jidai” often to mean ‘era’ in Japanese. Perhaps, some Japanese learners know this word as it is sometimes used in Japanese movies, songs, novels, manga, anime, and the like. In this blog post, however, I will explain this word in detail based on its kanji expression. And also, I will explain how to use it through example sentences. My explanations would help Japanese learners understand “jidai” more clearly. Then, let’s get started!
Contents
Definition and meanings of “jidai”
Let me start with the definition and meanings of “jidai”.
- jidai – 時代 (じだい) : a noun meaning ‘era’ in Japanese. This can also work as plural. Learn more about Japanese plural. Depending on the context and situation, this can also mean ‘period’ or ‘times’.
Japanese native speakers use this noun to refer to a length of time in history. So, this Japanese noun can work in more or less the same way as the English ones written above.
The definition and meanings are not that difficult, I think. To understand this noun more clearly, however, let me explain its kanji characters in detail, one by one.
What does “jidai” literally mean in Japanese?
The kanji expression of “jidai” consists of the following two kanji characters:
- 時 : a kanji character widely used to mean ‘time’ in Japanese.
- 代 : a kanji character often used to mean ‘generation’ in Japanese.
These two kanji characters tell us that “jidai” literally means a ‘time and generation’ in Japanese. This literal interpretation is very close to the actual meanings, I think.
When we meet new kanji expressions, we should check their kanji characters in detail to understand their meanings clearly and deeply. In many cases, kanji characters tell us a lot about the meanings of the expressions they form. Actually, here, we could get the better understanding of “jidai” through the detailed kanji check above.
So far, I’ve explained the definition and meanings of “jidai” together with its kanji characters. Then, let me explain how to use it through the example sentences below.
Example #1: how to say “period” in Japanese
watashi wa nippon no sengoku jidai ga suki desu – 私は日本の戦国時代が好きです (わたしはにっぽんのせんごくじだいがすきです)
I love the Sengoku period in Japan.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- watashi – 私 (わたし) : a pronoun meaning ‘I’ in Japanese.
- wa – は : a binding particle working as a case marker or topic marker. In the example, this works after “watashi” to make the subject in the sentence.
- nippon – 日本 (にっぽん) : a noun meaning ‘Japan’ in Japanese.
- no – の : a case particle joining two nouns or noun equivalent words. Normally, the first one can work as a modifier to describe the second. In the example, this works to join “nippon” and “sengoku jidai”. The formed phrase literally means ‘the Sengoku period in Japan’. Word orders in Japanese and English are different, but the role of this case particle is similar to those of some English prepositions.
- sengoku – 戦国 (せんごく) : a noun meaning ‘warring states’ in Japanese. In the example, this works together with “jidai” to mean ‘the Sengoku period’ or ‘the warring states period’ in Japanese.
- ga – が : a case particle used to make the subject word or the object word in a sentence. In the example, this is used after “nippon no sengoku jidai” to make the object in the sentence.
- suki – 好き (すき) : the stem part of the na-adjective, “sukina”, which means ‘favorite’ in Japanese. Native speakers, however, often use this as an individual word to mean ‘to like’ or ‘to love’ in Japanese. In the example, this is used to mean ‘to love’.
- desu – です : an auxiliary verb used after a noun or adjective to make it polite. In the example, this is used after “suki” to make it sound polite.
This is a typical usage of “jidai”. In this example, it works as a part of the longer noun, “sengoku jidai”, which literally means ‘the warring states period’ in Japanese.
Example #2: another usage of “jidai”
jidai ga hontouni kawat ta – 時代が本当に変わった (じだいがほんとうにかわった)
Times have really changed.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- hontouni – 本当に (ほんとうに) : an adverb meaning ‘really’ in Japanese.
- kawat – 変わっ (かわっ) : one conjugation of the verb, “kawaru”, which means ‘to change’ in Japanese. In the example, it has been conjugated for the better connection with its following word.
- ta – た : an auxiliary verb used after a verb, adjective, or auxiliary verb to make its past tense form. Probably, this is well known as a part of Japanese ta form. In the example, this is used after “kawat” to make its past tense form, “kawat ta”.
This is another typical usage of “jidai”. In this example, it works together with the case particle, “ga”, to become the subject in the sentence. When we want to refer to a length of time in history in Japanese, anyway, this noun is always a very good option.
Summay
In this blog post, I’ve explained the definition and meanings of “jidai” in detail based on its kanji expression. And also, I’ve explained how to use it through the example sentences. Let me summarize them as follows.
- jidai – 時代 (じだい) : a noun meaning ‘era’ in Japanese. This can also work as plural. Depending on the context and situation, this can also mean ‘period’ or ‘times’. These two kanji characters literally mean a ‘time and generation’ in Japanese. This literal interpretation is very close to the actual meanings, I think. When we want to refer to a length of time in history in Japanese, this noun is always a very good option.
Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.
