Is "today itself" correct English?

"Today itself" is standard, correct English in South-Asian English, where attaching "itself" to a time or place word adds emphasis — "today itself" means "this very day." But to a US, UK, or Canadian native speaker, "itself" attached to "today" or "here" doesn't read as emphasis at all. It lands as a small grammatical slip and quietly marks the writer as non-native.

The emphasis you meant — "I'll do it as soon as today" — gets lost, because natives don't hear "this very day" in it. They keep the time phrase plain and, if they want emphasis, add it separately.

In a US/UK/Canadian workplace, just say "today." If you want to stress urgency, add it as its own beat: "today — actually, within the hour."

Examples

Drop the "itself" and let the plain time or place phrase carry the meaning:

Instead of

"I'll send it today itself."

Write

"I'll send it today."

Drops the "itself" that reads as non-native. If you want the emphasis, natives add it separately: "I'll send it today — actually, within the hour."

Instead of

"We finished it morning itself."

Write

"We finished it this morning."

Natives say "this morning," not "morning itself" — the time phrase already carries the meaning, so no intensifier is needed.

Instead of

"Let's meet here itself."

Write

"Let's meet right here."

"Right here" is how natives emphasize a place. "Here itself" sounds like a word-for-word translation of the emphasis.

Common mistakes

Quick summary

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