現代

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: The spelling is 現代, read げんだい, and it combines 現, meaning present or appear, with 代, meaning era.
• Basic usage: The basic sense of 現代 is the modern or present era and, by extension, a modern character or style.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• An era and modern-style modification
  • Both examples use the form 現代. The first names the present era, while 現代風 in the second means adapting older material into a modern style.
• Two contrasts with the past
  • 現代の暮らしと百年前の生活を比べた。 — We compared modern life with life one hundred years ago.
  • 古い物語を現代風の舞台に置き換えて上演する。 — We will stage the old story in a modern setting.