如今 (rú jīn) — nowadays; these days | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Literary 'nowadays / these days,' used in writing to describe the current era. More formal than 现在; broader in time than 此刻 (this very moment).

noun

nowadaysthese days

Examples

如今。
rú jīn De shè huì biàn huà hěn kuài.
Society changes very fast nowadays.
如今。
rú jīn De nián qīng rén hěn zhòng shì jiàn kāng.
Young people nowadays care a lot about health.
如今。
rú jīn Hěn shǎo yǒu rén yòng chuán hū jī le.
Few people use pagers these days.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

如 means 'like' and 今 means 'now'; together they mean 'like now', i.e. nowadays.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

女口如

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒumouth

Sound part声符shēngfú

女

女nǚ如rú

Same sound today

如 is built from 口 (mouth) for its meaning and 女 (woman) for its sound.

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

One explanation sees the shape as an upside-down mouth with a line below it, giving the idea of not speaking.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 5 HSK 2.0 Level 5 Time (Abstract)5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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