Translation guide
Describes an initial phase or stage of a time span, event, era, or process. Japanese uses different words depending on whether you mean the beginning part of a period, an early stage of development, or the early days of a historical era.
Referring to the early part of a day, season, year, or scheduled period.
Means 'beginning' or 'early part' of a period. Very common and natural for general use.
I set goals in the early part of the year.
The early part of summer is still cool.
Literally 'early period', often used for stages of a process, illness, or historical phase. Slightly more formal than 初め.
Please pay attention to the early symptoms of the illness.
Problems arose in the early stages of the project.
Means 'first half' of a period. Use when you can roughly divide the period into two halves.
The early part of this month was busy.
Referring to the beginning phase of a person's life, career, or a historical era.
Common for 'early period' in historical or developmental contexts.
His early works are highly regarded.
Many reforms were carried out in the early Meiji period.
Used for the first half of a defined era or century.
Means 'early stage' with a nuance of 'at an early point in time', often used in technical or medical contexts (e.g., early detection).
Describing the initial phase of a personal experience, such as a marriage, job, or living situation.
Pattern meaning 'in the early days of ~'. Very natural for personal experiences.
In the early period of our marriage, things were tough.
I felt lonely in the early days of living alone.
Also possible but slightly more formal; 初めの頃 is more conversational.
初め (はじめ) is the most general and conversational for 'early part'. 初期 (しょき) is more formal and often used for stages, historical periods, or technical contexts. 前半 (ぜんはん) specifically means 'first half' and is used when a period can be divided into two roughly equal parts.
While 早い時期 (はやいじき) literally means 'early period', it is not a natural translation for most uses of 'early period'. It is better to use the options above depending on context.
20世紀の前半は戦争の時代だった。
The early 20th century was an era of war.
がんの早期発見が重要です。
Early detection of cancer is important.
In the early period of our relationship, we didn't know each other well.