今天 Vs 今日？

[Wang Yao]

Hey everybody, just a quick question today.

I stumbled upon 今日 being used on Tudou and Youku yesterday, and I'm just wondering - is it more common to say 今天 or 今日 in colloquial/everyday speech, either written or spoken? I tend to use 今天 because that's why my first 老师 taught us to be "today", but I can understand that 今日 (also 昨日，明日) can almost mean "today", "yesterday", and "tomorrow", respectively.

I know that the Japanese use the 日 terminology (明日は。。。）, so I'm just wondering whether this is just a stylistic choice or is there more to it than that? Should I use one over the other?

[Jose]

The 日 variants are more formal, typical of written Chinese.

[anonymoose]

I've never heard 昨日 used in mandarin (although I'll leave it for a native speaker to confirm) but 昨日 is frequently said in Shanghainese.

[Hofmann]

天 for "day" is far more common in colloquial Mandarin.

昨日 is used in Mandarin.

[Wang Yao]

Fair enough, I figured as much. Thanks for confirmation! =)

[trien27]

I know that the Japanese use the 日 terminology (明日は。。。）, so I'm just wondering whether this is just a stylistic choice or is there more to it than that? Should I use one over the other?

This is from ancient Chinese usage, which Japanese borrowed via southern dialects, such as Cantonese, Shanghainese, etc... 日 = an image of the sun, which is also used to mean "day" in southern dialects. 天, meaning "sky / heaven" is a recent usage via Mandarin and the meaning is extended to mean "day".

今朝有酒今朝醉,明日愁來明日愁 is from 唐‧羅隱‧自遣

The usage of 日 is most often seen in poems of the Tang dynasty.

昨日 is used in Mandarin.

I've seen it used too, but it does sound kind of 不順, due to where the term originated.

[xianhua]

昨日 also appears to have found favour with Taiwan's pop elite of yesteryear:

明天会更好

[Hofmann]

The usage of 日 is most often seen in poems of the Tang dynasty.

Is it less often used elsewhere where another term is used for "day"? Mandarin doesn't count.

[benhadad]

今天(jintian) is spoken form 今日(jinri) is written form at least that is what my teacher said and from my experience.

[rao jianqiang]

"日" is more formal than "天" , speak 今天 and write 今日。 And 日 is used more often in 文言文（the old Chinese）

[adsız]

hi,i am a new member and this is my first comment..i just wondered whether there is a word '天日' in chinese or not?if it is,what does it mean?

[renzhe]

天日 = sky and sunlight, justice. 暗无天日; 重见天日

[thomas_knight]

i used 今天 more than 今日。at least my chinese friends all use 今天

[Zomac]

it's interesting to see the dialectal difference in using 今日/今天.

In Cantonese, 今天 isn't used colloquially in most cases, but at the same time, teachers insist that 今天 is what you should write down, not 今日. So every time I hear the word 今天, it appears in a formal speech.

I'm curious to know in which dialects they also preserve the word "今朝"? In Cantonese, brushed aside certain fixed quotations such as "今朝有酒今朝醉" or "年年有今日, 歲歲有今朝", "今朝" is a common expression to refer to today's morning.

[Jane_PA]

I don't think there is a different meaning between 今天 and 今日. The difference is just the habit, where to use which one and most times, they are interchangable.

[Hofmann]

In Cantonese, 今天 isn't used colloquially in most cases, but at the same time, teachers insist that 今天 is what you should write down, not 今日. So every time I hear the word 今天, it appears in a formal speech.

In Cantonese, 今天 is never used. <--period The prescription of 今天 is for writing Vernacular Chinese (=Mandarin). Saying 今天 to mean 今日 is improper Cantonese.

[renzhe]

I'm curious to know in which dialects they also preserve the word "今朝"?

I'm pretty sure Shanghainese does.

[Kenny同志]

今日 and 昨日 were popular in old days but are becoming outdated in today’s spoken Mandarin. They are considered formal and literary when used in writings.

[Caidanbi]

I've seen them both used in Mandarin, although I see 今天 more. 今日 is used in Cantonese, as I believe someone else mentioned...

[Kenny同志]

They are used in putonghua, but taken the Chinese-speaking populace as a whole, far less frequently than 今天 and 昨天.