Why hoy and dia?

Question

¿Qué vas a hacer hoy día? I don't understand why hoy and día both are used.

Answer 1

"Hoy dia" has a long and puzzling history.

The ancient Romans used "hoc die" = "this day".

By classical times this had contracted to "hodie".

Out there in the empire, the Spanish tribes eventually contracted "hodie" further still to "hoy".

Later it seems that less literate Spanish speakers felt it needed new emphasis and have expanded it to "hoy dia".

If "today day" gives you a headache, well so it does me but English has some similar weirdities: for example "I fell off my bike" is complete and logical on its own but how many people say "I fell off of my bike"? Like me you must even have heard "from off of".

Aaarrgh!

Lol. sometimes I do get a headache, but if I am going to hear it or even say it like this , I want to know what I am hearing and saying. Thank you geofo, This helped - 0021954c, Apr 18, 2010

oh i see, the dia is just there for emphasis. i like that answer - 00c7640f, May 11, 2014

Answer 2

"Hoy día" and "hoy en el día" means nowadays.

Cyndee, I might have misread your question. - --Mariana--, Apr 18, 2010

thats ok - 0021954c, Apr 18, 2010

I corrected my answer after looking in the dictionary. - --Mariana--, Apr 18, 2010

Answer 3

When I heard this, I was wondering why the día. lol I would have just said ¿qué vas a hacer hoy?

Answer 4

Hoy means "today" and día mean any day in general.