Ways to say it
| Spanish | IPA |
|---|---|
| hoy en día | /ˌoi en ˈdia/ |
| en la actualidad | /en la aɡtwalidad/ (from spelling rules) |
Both hoy en día and en la actualidad are used to mean 'at the present time' or 'in the current era'.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase hoy en día literally translates to 'today in day'.
Which one should you use?
While hoy en día is the most common and general way to say 'nowadays', en la actualidad is a more formal alternative that is often used in journalistic or academic contexts to mean 'at the present time'.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Spain, the term hoy día is often used. In some Latin American countries, al día de hoy is a common synonym for 'nowadays'. Additionally, a día de hoy can be used as an alternative to 'nowadays'.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase hoy en día functions as an adverbial phrase and can be placed at the beginning, middle or end of a sentence.
How do you pronounce it?
/ˌoi en ˈdia/
Did you know?
Examples in context
- Hoy en día escasea el café.Nowadays coffee is scarce.Tatoeba #13453689 by Seael, translation #2259072 by _undertoad
- Hoy en día, Tom no toca piano.Tom doesn't play the piano nowadays.Tatoeba #1439734 by marcelostockle, translation #1025976 by CK
- ¿Quién escribe cartas hoy en día?Who writes letters nowadays?Tatoeba #7971940 by Seael, translation #1798778 by Amastan
- Hoy en día, la tecnología ha transformado nuestras vidas.Nowadays, technology has transformed our lives.
- En la actualidad, el tema del cambio climático es de suma importancia.Nowadays, the issue of climate change is of utmost importance.
- En estos tiempos de incertidumbre, es fundamental adaptarse a los cambios.In these times of uncertainty, it is essential to adapt to the changes.
- Ahora, las redes sociales son muy populares.Nowadays, social media is very popular.
- En estos días, todo el mundo está obsesionado con las aplicaciones móviles.Nowadays, everyone is obsessed with mobile apps.
- Actualmente, los jóvenes prefieren comunicarse a través de mensajes de texto.Nowadays, young people prefer to communicate through text messages.
- A día de hoy, todavía existen desigualdades de género.To this day, gender inequalities still exist.
- 40 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Elena and Mateo are discussing how people communicate.
- ElenaHoy en día usamos mucho el móvil.Nowadays we use mobile phones a lot.
- MateoEs verdad, ya no hablamos en persona.That's true, we don't talk in person anymore.
- ElenaTodo es más rápido ahora.Everything is faster now.
- MateoSí, pero extrañamos las llamadas largas.Yes, but we miss long phone calls.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “nowadays” translations and entries hoy en día, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries actualidad, día, en, hoy, la, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
