年
year
HSK level
- Pinyin
- nián
- Part of speech
- noun
- Level
- HSK 1
- Strokes
- 6
- Register
- neutral
- In episodes
- 3
Stroke order for 年
年 is written with 6 strokes. The animation replays automatically.
What does 年 mean?
年 (nián) means 'year' — the unit of time — and unlike most Chinese nouns it does NOT take a separate measure word.
年 is both the noun and its own counter: 一年 (one year), 两年 (two years), 十年 (ten years). The same rule applies to 天 (day), 月 (month for duration), and 周 (week). 年 also names the year itself in dates: 2024年 (the year 2024) is read 'èr líng èr sì nián'. Three usage notes for English speakers.
First, '...年级' means 'grade in school' (三年级 'third grade'). Second, 年 appears in many time expressions: 今年 (this year), 去年 (last year), 明年 (next year), 每年 (every year). Third, 过年 (guò nián) means 'celebrate Chinese New Year' — culturally the most important meaning of 年 for any Mandarin learner.
Memory hook: 年 traces back to a pictograph of a person carrying a harvest — one full agricultural cycle = one year.
Hear 年 in real episodes
年 appears in 3 Fluentide podcast episodes at natural native speed. Each sentence plays at the easiest difficulty it exists in — switch it to hear the same moment at your level, with full pinyin and English throughout.
他踢了很多年足球，可是踢得不好。
He played soccer for many years, but he wasn't very good.
Belgium's 'Aerobullet' Remco Evenepoel Won a Fourth Straight Time-Trial World Title — Then Finished 12th in the Road Race
这种鱼要很多年才有子。
This fish needs many years before it has eggs.
Caviar Got Cheap Enough to Feed a Toddler — and a Big Reason Is Chinese Fish Farms
五年里，他们年年第一。
For five years, they have been first every year.
Dodgers Clinch 5th Straight NL West Title
Example sentences
今年我二十岁。
Jīnnián wǒ èrshí suì.
I'm twenty years old this year.
neutral
我在北京住了三年。
Wǒ zài Běijīng zhù le sān nián.
I've lived in Beijing for three years.
neutral
明年我去中国。
Míngnián wǒ qù Zhōngguó.
Next year I'm going to China.
spoken
今年是2024年。
Jīnnián shì èr líng èr sì nián.
This year is 2024.
neutral
Common phrases with 年
Synonyms
Don't confuse 年 with
岁 (years old, for age) vs. 年 (year, for time spans/dates). Beginners mix these up constantly: 我今年二十岁 (this year I am 20 years old) uses both correctly.
天 = day. Like 年, it doesn't take a measure word: 一天 (one day), 三天 (three days). Different time unit, same counting pattern.
Same pinyin family. 念 means 'to read aloud / miss someone'. 年 means 'year'. Different characters.
FAQ
Related words from the same episodes
Acquire it by listening
Meet 年 again — in real Chinese, at your level.
You just saw 年 in 3 episodes. Fluentide keeps feeding you news episodes at your level, so this word — and thousands like it — resurface in real sentences until they stick. Full pinyin and translation every time. Free to start.