Tänane

Tänane is an Estonian adjective used to denote something related to the present day or the current period. It is commonly translated as “current,” “present-day,” or “today’s.” It is used before nouns such as tänane päev (the present day), tänane olukord (the current situation), and in similar compound expressions. In many contexts tänane contrasts with eile (yesterday) and homne (tomorrow).

Origin and grammar: Tänane is derived from täna (today) with the adjectival suffix -ne, forming a word that describes a noun as belonging to the current day or period. In Estonian, adjectives decline for case and number, so forms include tänane (nominative singular), tänase (genitive singular), tänast (partitive singular), and plural forms such as tänased (nominative plural).

Use and examples: Tänane päev on ilus. Tänane uudis käsitleb uut otsust. The word is commonly used to describe current circumstances, events, or conditions, for example tänase olukorra jätkamine or tänane tööpäev. For broader temporal references, the adverb täna is often used on its own.

Relation to other time words: Tänane differs from täna in that täna is primarily an adverb meaning “today,” used without a noun, while tänane is an attributive adjective that modifies a noun. The two forms can appear in related expressions, such as täna ja tänane päev, to distinguish a general sense of today from the specific present-day context being described.