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今晩 (こんばん) Japanese meaning | Kotomora

今こん晩ばん

こ

ん

ば

ん

Common word›JLPTN5›Freq.FrequencyTop 20,000

Meanings

1

tonight; this evening

Refers to the current evening or the coming night. Used both as a noun and adverbially.

今こん晩ばんは早はやく寝ねよう。
I'll go to bed early tonight.

今こん晩ばんの天てん気きはどうですか。

How's the weather this evening?

Usage patterns

今こん晩ばん〈場ば所しょ〉に泊とまるto stay overnight somewhere tonight
今こん晩ばんは友とも達だちの家いえに泊とまります。
I'm staying at a friend's place tonight.

Kanji

今now
晩nightfall, night

Related words

今こん夜やN4
今夜 and 今晩 both mean 'tonight', but 今晩 can sound slightly more formal or is more common in spoken greetings, while 今夜 is neutral and works well in writing.
今宵こよい
今宵 is a poetic or literary word for 'this evening', while 今晩 is the plain, everyday term used in ordinary conversation.

Opposites

今朝けさN5
今朝 refers to the morning of today, while 今晩 refers to the evening/night of today, the opposite end of the day.
昨さく晩ばんN1
今晩 means 'tonight', the opposite time reference to 昨晩's 'last night'.
明みょう晩ばんN1
明晩 refers to tomorrow evening, whereas 今晩 refers to this evening, the opposite point in time.

Word family

こんばんはN4
good evening

Written forms

今こん晩ばんUsage84%
Standard kanji spelling for 'tonight' or 'this evening'.
こんばんUsage16%

Etymology

Compound of 今 (kon, 'now') and 晩 (ban, 'evening').