How to Say ‘Today’ in Japanese
今日は
kyou wa
[kyoh wah]
💬 Usage Tip: [今日は] is [今日] plus the topic marker [は]. It means “as for today...” and sets up the topic of the sentence.
🇯🇵 In Japan: Topic-first structure is a big feature of Japanese. Starting with [今日は] feels natural, like opening a little frame for what you want to say next.
Phrase Breakdown
今日
kyou
[kyoh]
today
A common word meaning today, referring to the current day.
今日は忙しかった。
Today was busy.
は
wa
[wah]
topic marker
This particle marks the topic of the sentence. It is written は but pronounced wa.
今日は少し大変だった。
As for today, it was a little tough.
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