今いまや

い

ま

や

Common wordJLPTN2Freq.FrequencyTop 10,000

Meanings

1

Emphasizes a contrast with the past or a significant change in the current situation. Often used in news and formal contexts.

今いまやスマートフォンは生せい活かつに欠かかせない。

Now smartphones are indispensable to daily life.

彼かれは今いまや世せ界かい的てきに有ゆう名めいな作さっ家かだ。

He is now a world-famous author.

Usage patterns

今いまや〈事こと〉となったhas now become ~ (marking a striking change from before)
今いまやスマートフォンは生せい活かつの必ひつ需じゅ品ひんとなった。
Smartphones have now become a necessity of life.
今いまや〈事こと〉も珍めずらしくない~ is no longer unusual nowadays
今いまや海かい外がい旅りょ行こうも珍めずらしくない。
Traveling abroad is no longer unusual these days.

Kanji

今now

Related words

今いまN5
今 is the plain, everyday word for 'now', while 今や adds emphasis on a striking contrast with the past.
現げん在ざいN3
現在 is a neutral, factual 'at present' used in reports and statistics, whereas 今や carries a rhetorical, dramatic tone.
もはやN2
もはや stresses that a former state no longer holds (often with a negative or resigned tone), while 今や simply highlights that the present state is now strikingly different.

Don't confuse with

今いまにもN4
今にも means 'at any moment' (something is about to happen), while 今や means 'now' with emphasis on a change already realized.

Word family

今いまや遅おそしと
impatiently; eagerly; can't wait

Etymology

Combination of 今 (ima, 'now') and the emphatic particle や (ya). The particle や adds a sense of exclamation or strong assertion, giving the word its contrastive force.