現在
Meaning in Englishpresent, current, now
Animated kanji stroke order
Word context
What it means
現在 (genzai) means the present or the current time/state — what is true or happening at this moment rather than in the past or future; it functions as a temporal term to locate events, conditions, or values in the immediate timeframe.
Main meanings
- 1. Used as a temporal adverbial idea to indicate an action or condition occurring now or ongoing at the moment of speaking.
- 2. As a noun meaning the current state, situation, or status of something (used in reports and summaries).
- 3. Technical or statistical sense: the current value, measurement, or reading at the time of observation.
- 4. Contrastive use to oppose past or future conditions when analyzing change over time.
How to use it
Common in written and spoken Japanese to mark the present time or state; appears frequently in news, academic writing, reports, legal/administrative language, and formal speech, while casual conversation often prefers the shorter word for 'now'; it can function as a noun or adverbial expression and combine with verbs or numerals to indicate current actions or current values without changing form.
Variants and close terms
- 今 (ima) — now (more casual)
- 現時点 (genjiten) — the current point in time
- 当面 (toumen) — for the time being, temporarily (close nuance in some contexts)
- 過去 (kako) — past (antonym)
- 将来 (shourai) — future (antonym)
Composition
- 現 (gen): to appear, to manifest — conveys the sense of something being present or visible.
- 在 (zai): to exist, to be located — indicates presence or existence at a place/time.
- Together the characters express the idea of 'existing now' or the 'presently existing state.'
Origin
A Sino-Japanese compound adopted from classical Chinese vocabulary and used in Japanese texts since pre-modern times; its use became especially standardized in modern Japanese writing and official documents during the late Edo–Meiji modernization when Chinese-derived compounds were widely used for abstract temporal and administrative concepts.
Word class
noun and adverb (名詞 / 副詞的用法)