现在
xiàn zài
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Traditional: 現在
Now, at the present time. It covers both 'right this moment' and 'these days'. As a time word it goes before the verb or at the start of the sentence: 我现在很忙 'I am busy right now', 他现在不在 'he is not here at the moment'.
Bây giờ, lúc này, hiện nay. Từ này chỉ cả “ngay lúc này” lẫn “thời buổi này”. Là từ chỉ thời gian nên đứng trước động từ hoặc ở đầu câu: 我现在很忙 (bây giờ tôi rất bận), 他现在不在 (lúc này anh ấy không có ở đây).
NounRegister: neutral
Examples
Editorial example (illustrative, not a corpus attestation) — awaiting a native-speaker check
Sources & notes
Hán-Việt bridge batch 063 (2026-11-14). Headword, Traditional form and pinyin checked against CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0) source ↗ · Hán-Việt reading: Unihan kVietnamese source ↗ · Vietnamese cognate: Idiomer entry “hiện tại” (hien-tai). Definition, literal gloss and example sentence are original; the example has not had a native-speaker check yet.
Equivalents & related
Common questions
What does “现在” mean?
Now, at the present time. It covers both 'right this moment' and 'these days'. As a time word it goes before the verb or at the start of the sentence: 我现在很忙 'I am busy right now', 他现在不在 'he is not here at the moment'. Literally: existing now
Is “现在” formal or informal?
现在 is generally neutral.