年
year
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HSK level
- Pinyin
- nián
- Part of speech
- noun
- Level
- HSK 1
- Strokes
- 6
- Register
- neutral
- In episodes
- 5
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 5 Fluentide podcast episodes at natural native speed, 4 of them below. 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.
九百二十七年，他骑马去了北边的约克。
In 927, he rode north to York.
England's First King Æthelstan: 1,100 Years of Near-Forgetting
他在电视上说，到年底就停。
He said on television that it will stop by the end of the year.
Trump Moves to Cut Israel Military Aid as Republicans Blame Israel for Midterm Defeat
赢了这一场的人，就是今年的冠军。
The team that wins this match will be this year's champion.
Wuxi Beat Changzhou 2-1 to Win First Jiangsu City Football League Title Before Record 62,356 Crowd
2003年，这里的水果很多。
In 2003, there was a lot of fruit here.
Could Gene-Edited Trees Save Florida's Citrus Industry From Greening?
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.
Frequently asked questions
Related words from the same episodes
Acquire it by listening
Meet 年 again — in real Chinese, at your level.
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