Today in Japanese: “kyou” or “honjitsu”, explained based on their kanji

How to say “today” in japanese

Native speakers say “kyou” to mean ‘today’ in Japanese. In formal situations, they would say “honjitsu” instead. In this blog post, I will explain these two words in detail based on their kanji expressions. And also, I will explain how to use them through example sentences. Let’s get started!

Contents

• Definition and meaning of “kyou”
• “Kyou” in kanji
  • Example #1: how to say “how was your day today?” in Japanese
• Definition and meaning of “honjitsu”
• “Honjitsu” in kanji
  • Example #2: how to say “how was your day today?” politely
• Summary

Definition and meaning of “kyou”

Let me start with the definition and meaning of “kyou”.

• kyou – 今日 (きょう) : a noun meaning ‘today’ in Japanese.

Grammatically, this is a noun. In reality, however, it can also be used as an adverb and inserted almost anywhere in a sentence. In Japanese, many time-related nouns can also work as adverbs. “Kyou” is one of them. So, it can work as both a noun and an adverb. Perhaps, this sounds weird to Japanese learners. Interestingly, however, this trait is not unique to the Japanese language, but can also be found in other languages like English. In fact, “today” can work both a noun and an adverb. So, Japanese learners, especially those who are familiar with English, can easily understand this trait of time-related nouns, I think.

The meaning of “kyou” is simple and clear. To understand this word more clearly, however, let me explain its kanji characters in detail, one by one.

“Kyou” in kanji

The kanji expression of “kyou” consists of the following two characters:

• 今 : a kanji character used to mean ‘now’. This can also work as a prefix to add the meaning of ‘this’ to its following word. This kanji can also be found in other words like “konshuu” and “kotoshi“.
• 日 : a kanji character often used to mean ‘day’. This can also be found in other words like “tanjoubi“.

From these two kanji characters, we can understand that “kyou” literally means ‘this day’ in Japanese. This kanji concept is completely in line with the meaning, 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 meanings of words they form. Actually, here, we could get the better understanding of “kyou” through the detailed kanji check above.

Then, let me explain how to use “kyou” through the example sentence below.

Example #1: how to say “how was your day today?” in Japanese

Below are the new words used in the example sentence.

• wa – は : a binding particle working as a case marker or topic marker. In the example, this is used after “kyou” to provide a topic.
• dou – どう : an adverb meaning ‘how’ in Japanese. This is often used to make Japanese ‘how’ questions.
• deshi – でし : one conjugation of the auxiliary verb, “desu”, which is used after a noun, adjective, or adverb to make it polite. Probably, this is well known as a part of Japanese desu form. In the example, this is used after “dou” to make it sound polite.
• ta – た : an auxiliary verb put 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 the conjugated auxiliary verb, “deshi”, to make its past tense form, “deshi ta”.
• ka – か : a sentence-ending particle used to make Japanese questions. In many cases, this is used with the pitch raised. As its definition suggests, this is used at the end of the example sentence to make the question.

This is a typical usage of “kyou”. In this example, it works as a noun to mean ‘today’ in Japanese. “Today” in the translation works as an adverb, though.

In many cases, “kyou” is the best word to say “today” in Japanese. In formal situations, however, Japanese native speakers would use the more polite expression, “honjitsu”. Next, let me explain it in detail.

Definition and meaning of “honjitsu”

Below are the definition and meaning of “honjitsu”.

• honjitsu – 本日 (ほんじつ) : a noun meaning ‘today’ in Japanese.

The meaning of “honjitsu” is completely the same as that of “kyou”. These two words are, however, not completely the same. “Honjitsu” is considered more polite than “kyou”. Native speakers, therefore, use “honjitsu” to say ‘today’ politely in Japanese.

To understand this word more clearly, let me explain its kanji characters in detail, one by one.

“Honjitsu” in kanji

The kanji expression of “honjitsu” consists of the following two characters:

• 本 : a kanji character often used as a prefix to add the meaning of ‘this’ to its following word.
• 日 : the same as explained above. This is often used to mean ‘day’ in Japanese.

From these two kanji characters, we can understand that “honjitsu” as well is literally a Japanese word for ‘this day’. This kanji concept is completely in line with the meaning. “Hon” is widely considered as a polite prefix. This is why “honjitsu” is considered as more polite than “kyou”.

Then, let me paraphrase the last example with “honjitsu” as follows.

Example #2: how to say “how was your day today?” politely

Below is the new word used in the example sentence.

• ikaga – 如何 (いかが) : an adverb meaning ‘how’ in Japanese. This is considered as the polite expression of “dou” which was used in the last example.

This is a typical usage of “honjitsu”. In this example, it works as a noun to mean ‘today’ in Japanese.

In accordance with the change from “kyou” to “honjitsu”, “dou” has been replaced by “ikaga” to have the same degree of politeness in the sentence. This Japanese example sentence can be used to say “how was your day today?” politely in Japanese.

Summary

In this blog post, I’ve explained “kyou” and “honjitsu” in detail based on their kanji expressions. And also, I’ve explained how to use them through the example sentences. Let me summarize them as follows.

• kyou – 今日 (きょう) : a noun meaning ‘today’ in Japanese. These two kanji characters literally mean ‘this day’. This kanji concept is completely in line with the meaning.
• kyou wa dou deshi ta ka – 今日はどうでしたか (きょうはどうでしたか) : a Japanese expression for ‘how was your day today?’
• honjitsu – 本日 (ほんじつ) : a noun meaning ‘today’ in Japanese. These two kanji characters literally mean ‘this day’ too. This is considered as more polite than “kyou”.
• honjitsu wa ikaga deshi ta ka – 本日は如何でしたか (ほんじつはいかがでしたか) : a Japanese polte expression for ‘how was your day today?’ “Ikaga” is the polite expression of “dou”, meaning ‘how’ in Japanese.

Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.