年

nián
HSK 1
#45 most
frequent character
year
noun
Measure words:个 gè

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

年 shows a person 人 carrying grain 禾 in from the harvest, so it first meant 'crops ripe for harvest'. That grew to 'harvest' and then 'year, annual'. The modern shape hides this picture.

Drawn as: person carrying grain; harvest

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Example Sentences

今年是2023年。
jīnnián shì nián 。
This year is 2023.
我今年20岁。
wǒ jīnnián suì 。
I am 20 years old this year.
他在去年搬家了。
tāzài qùnián bānjiā le 。
He moved last year.

Grammar Points

HSK 1
Structure of dates

Homophones

黏nián
sticky

Words Starting With 年

年级nián jí
grade
年轻nián qīng
young
年龄nián líng
"(a person's) age
年代nián dài
a decade of a century (e.g. the Sixties); age; era; period
年纪nián jì
"age

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Public Lists with 年

Time & Dates
Days of the week, months, seasons, telling time, and related expressions.
HSK 1
All words for the HSK 1 test