what is the different both 本日 and 今日 -.-? - Feed Post by rendra
what is the different both 本日 and 今日 -.-?
posted by rendra
Comments 20
The first is "japan" and the other one "today"
No, no, both are the same meaning. When we say 本日, it is used in a polite situation, like an announcement. When you go to a department store, you sometimes can hear the announcement that "本日は、◯◯にお越し下さり、誠にありがとうございます。〜〜” or in a speech in a ceremony or a wedding party, "本日は、お日柄もよく、〜〜”.- Oh damn actually confused it... I think I should go to bed then...
mogmogさん seems to have explained it really well already, but I'll post what I was going to say anyway...
One apparently concrete difference is that only 本日 can be used as an adverb (both words are are classed as temporal nouns--時相名詞).
I believe 本日【ほんじつ】can put emphasis on something happening or scheduled to happen only on 'this specific day'. It's hard to explain what I mean... :/
I've read on Japanese sites about games and music albums written about as being 'released TODAY' (specifically 'today' as the day it was planned to happen, not just generally talking about today). For this meaning, the word 本日 is used instead-- 本日発売.
本日【ほんじつ】= today (n-t, n-adv)
今日【きょう】= today, this day (n-t)
今日【こんにち】= today, this day [I think this reading is used instead in formal writing]; these days, nowadays (n-t)- I believe 本日【ほんじつ】can put emphasis on something happening or scheduled to happen only on 'this specific day'. It's hard to explain what I mean... :/ It's an EXACT explanation!!!
- Don't worry about it too much @Sitzkiseen You can learn them this time, too. I also learn Japanese in English from all of you (^O^)
- Actually, mog86uk san always teaches me a lot of Japanese in easy English explanations. lol
- 本日開店 is also a good example. 本日、新装開店
頭が痛い。
okay, the point is 本日 for the polite situation? CMIIW
@mogmog I know what you're saying, 本日 can be used to say "this particular day" at sometime in the future. 今日 is exclusively TODAY, today. To use 今日 like that you'd have to say こんにち.
本日 is not common, per se. 今日 is your friend.- @rendra For yourself, in a normal polite conversation, the word you will nearly always want to use for 'today' will still be きょう. I think mogmog meant ほんじつ can be heard in formal situations--business, cermonies, etc.?
@SoulReturns I'm not sure I understand what you mean about saying 'this particular day' at sometime in the future.
Do you mean that if I've been talking about next Wednesday when a special event is to take place, that now in the conversation I can begin refering to next Wednesday as 'ほんじつ' ? And that I couldn't use 'きょう' for this purpose, because you say it can only mean exclusively TODAY ?
Just curious as to what you meant. If I already understood you correctly, then I'm not sure whether I agree or disagree with what you are saying--I don't personally know about it. ^^ - okay, i understood a bit now.
- is this okay?
the meeting today= 本日のミーティンッグ - @mog86uk Yes, because きょう is referring to the time at which the speaker is speaking.
ほんじつ is usually used in this fashion as well, but is special because you can say something along the lines of "I have a meeting Wednesday. ほんじつ (on that day) I will go to the store as well."
This is strictly off-limits for きょう. No idea why, though, and it may be okay to use it in that fashion in ways of which I am not sure. - I am really sorry for my poor English, so I don't get the questions perfectly.
I'll quote the three words from the Japanese dictionary with Mac.
こんにち【今日】
① きょう。この日。本日。「―限りで閉店いたします」
② このごろ。現在。現代。「苦難に耐えて―の繁栄を築く」
きょう【《今日》】
現在過ごしつつある，この日。本日。「大会は―開催される」
ほんじつ【本日】
きょう。この日。「―開店」
As you can see, there is no difference between them.
Actually, they are the same meaning, but they are used in a different situation.
As I told you, ほんじつ is used in public situations like ceremonies, speeches, conferences, wedding ceremonies, etc.
本日は、◯◯にお越しくださってまことにありがとうございます。
Thank you very much for coming to ◯◯ today.
(In the most polite way in Japanese)
So, I don't use it in a daily conversation.
For example
Suppose I'm an owner of a shop which will open today for the first time.
I would say "本日、開店いたします。" I open this shop today. (in a polite way)
"本日は当店にお越し下さり誠にありがとうございます。"
Thank you very much for coming to my shop today.
(In the most polite way.)
Suppose I'm a customer and talk with a friend about the shop.
I would say "今日（きょう）、あのお店開店するんだって。"
I heard that that shop would open today.
They are not interchangeable in this situation.
こんにち is more limited to use.
We don't often use this well,
but the 2nd sentence is more formal and it's fit to the sentence
in a narrative situation.
And this word is used in a polite situation, too.
こんにちの我が社があるのは◯◯氏のお陰である。
Thanks to Mr/Mrs◯◯, our company is still working (today as usual)
(Sorry, I can't make a better sentence in English.)
- From a Japanese−English dictionary.
▸ 今日（こんにち）の日本
Japan today / the Japan of today / today's Japan.
▸ 彼は懸命に働いて今日（こんにち）の地位を得た
He has worked hard to get where he is today.
▸ 今日（こんにち）では教育について親の考えが10年前と変わってきている
Today [These days, Nowadays] parents have different ideas about education than [from what] they had ten years ago. - in formal situations 本日 is used.
- ok then.
- @mogmog The explanation you've given is helpful. I've noticed too that ほんじつ and きょう are listed as synonyms in dictionaries--that their meanings are identical other than formality.
How about what SoulReturns said about using ほんじつ in the following way: "I have a meeting Wednesday. ほんじつ (on that day) I will go to the store as well." -- Using ほんじつ to refer to this Wednesday, is this possible? If so, is this not interchangeable with きょう in this usage?
I'm also interested in why Denshi Jisho (www.jisho.org) and other online dictionaries do not list きょう as an adverbial noun (副詞的名詞) but do list ほんじつ as one. As far as I can tell, きょう is used like a 副詞... ?
(Also, your English is definitely not bad at all!) ^^
