現在

げんざい

present time, now

Mnemonic

What you can actually see in front of you, standing on the ground, this minute. The same gen げん as 現場, and zai ざい right here. Thirty degrees, whatever it was yesterday: げんざい.

Worth knowing

The formal now, for readings and official statements. 今いま is what you say out loud.

Built from

現

appear, present

王 jewel + 見 see

在

exist, be located

才 sapling + 土 earth

Words sharing these kanji

現れる to appear, to emerge 現実 reality, actuality 現場 actual spot, job site 現状 present condition 存在 existence, being

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Emaki is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, Kaishi 1.5k or its authors. The word, reading and meaning come from the Kaishi 1.5k deck, used with their permission. The mnemonic, the note and the kanji breakdown are original work, published under CC BY-SA 4.0.