tänään

Tänään is a common Finnish adverb meaning "today" and referring to the present day relative to the speaker. It is used in spoken and written Finnish to indicate events, actions, or circumstances occurring on the current calendar day. Examples include sentences like “Tänään on hyvä sää” and “Tänään osallistumme tilaisuuteen.” It can appear at the beginning or in the middle of a clause, and it often pairs with time expressions such as times of day or dates.

Etymology and form: Tänään combines the demonstrative element that underpins words like tämä (this) with a temporal function that marks a specific day. The form is fixed in standard Finnish orthography and is capitalized only at the start of a sentence, for example “Tänään …” In everyday usage it contrasts with eilen (yesterday) and huomenna (tomorrow). While primarily an adverb, tänään also appears in various compound phrases and headlines to denote the present day.

See also: Eilen, Huomenna, Tänään käsittelee nykyhetkeä ja päivittäisiä tapahtumia. These related time adverbs help distinguish temporal references in Finnish.