Synonym Boundary: "ことし", "これ", "今朝", "今回", "斯界"

When expressing "this" in Japanese, you must carefully distinguish between "ことし", "これ", "今朝", "今回", "斯界" based on context.

• ことし (ことし (kotoshi) - Level: N5): Maps to "this year" and is used when Refers to the current year. Often used as a noun indicating a specific time..
• これ (これ (kore) - Level: N5): Maps to "this (thing near speaker)" and is used when Demonstrative pronoun referring to a thing near the speaker. Forms the 'ko' series of demonstratives..
• 今朝 (けさ (kesa) - Level: N4): Maps to "this morning" and is used when Refers specifically to the current morning. It is almost always used with past tense verbs to describe events that happened earlier in the day..
• 今回 (こんかい (konkai) - Level: N3): Maps to "this time" and is used when Refers to the current occasion or instance, distinguishing it from previous or future occasions. Often used to set the context for a specific event or action..
• 斯界 (しかい (shikai) - Level: N1): Maps to "this field/sphere; this profession/line of business" and is used when Used formally to refer to one's own or the current field/industry. Often implies a deep understanding or specialization. 「この分野」の丁寧でフォーマルな表現。.

Mixing these up can easily lead to unnatural translations. Refer to the bilingual context cards below to master the boundaries!