year

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A period of 365 or 366 days, roughly the time Earth takes to go around the Sun.

   Grammar: Often used with numbers or 'a': 'a year', 'three years'. For age, use 'years old'.

   Patterns

   • a year
   • three years
   • years old
   • for years

   She lived in Japan for three years.

   The project will take about a year to complete.

   He is twenty-five years old.

2. 2nouncountable

   A period of twelve months used for organizing time, often from January to December.

   Grammar: Used with calendar dates: 'in 2020', 'the year 1999'.

   Patterns

   • this year
   • last year
   • next year
   • the year 2020

   We moved here last year.

   Next year we plan to travel.

   The year 2020 was difficult for everyone.

3. 3nouncountable

   A period of twelve months used for a particular purpose, such as school or business.

   Grammar: Often used in compounds: 'school year', 'fiscal year'.

   Patterns

   • school year
   • academic year
   • fiscal year

   The school year starts in September.

   Our fiscal year ends in March.

   She is in her first year at university.

Word forms

Common combinations

last year

We visited Italy last year.

this year

This year has been very busy.

next year

I will graduate next year.

years old

The building is over 100 years old.

all year

The park is open all year.

year after year

The crops failed year after year.

Synonyms and how they differ

twelve-month period

A more explicit but less common way to say 'year'; 'year' is the normal everyday word.

Word family

yearly adjective

Happening once a year or every year.

yearly adverb

Once a year or every year.

Commonly confused: year or ear?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “year”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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