year
HSK level
年 is written with 6 strokes. The animation replays automatically.
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.
年 appears in 1 Fluentide podcast episode at natural native speed — each with the full Chinese script, pinyin, and line-by-line English translation.
Browse the full episode library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
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.
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