Word Detail

The Japanese word 今年 (ことし) means "this year". It refers to the current calendar year.

⚫︎今年は忙しいです。 Translation: This year is busy. ⚫︎今年の夏は暑かった。 Translation: This summer was hot.

⚫︎Use 今年 to talk about things happening or related to the current year. ⚫︎It's often used with time-related verbs and adjectives.

⚫︎今年 is typically written with the kanji 今 (meaning "now") and 年 (meaning "year"), with the reading ことし in hiragana. ⚫︎There is no other way to write this word. ⚫︎Okurigana (the hiragana that follows the kanji) is not applicable here because this word consists of only one noun.

⚫︎There are no direct synonyms for the word 今年.

⚫︎There is no single antonym for 今年. However, words referring to other years could be considered opposites, such as: •去年 (きょねん) - Last year •来年 (らいねん) - Next year

今年は新しいプロジェクトを始めます。 ・Translation: I will start a new project this year. ・Explanation: This sentence uses 今年 to indicate the timeframe for the project's start.

今年の目標は健康的な生活を送ることです。 ・Translation: My goal this year is to live a healthy life. ・Explanation: This sentence expresses a goal for the current year, using 今年 to specify the time frame.

The word 今年 is a compound word. 今 (now) + 年 (year) = 今年 (this year). It directly combines the concept of "now" with the concept of "year" to denote the present year.