Counting years
Word sets, Stage 1chunk 6 of 15Years and age
Lets you give a year, say how many years, and name a school year.
- -nenyear (in dates); years (how long)
- nannenwhat year; how many years
- -nenkanfor ... years (length of time)
- -nenseiyear or grade (in school or university)
Mix-ups Four years is yonen, not yonnen; nannen can mean 'what year' or 'how many years'.
-nen
year (in dates); years (how long)
ichinen, ninen, sannen, yonen, gonen, rokunen, nananen, hachinen, kyuunen, juunen; in dates, nisen nijuurokunen = 2026.
Four years is yonen, not yonnen. For a length of time, -kan is optional: sannen or sannenkan.
nihon ni kite, mou sannen ni naru.
It's been three years since I came to Japan.
日本に来て、もう三年になる。
nihon ni kite, mou sannen ni narimasu.
It's been three years since I came to Japan.
日本に来て、もう三年になります。
Written 年 · ねんRank #155 in 3,030 TV dramas
nannen
what year; how many years
Nannen umare = what year were you born, a common indirect way to ask age.
Nannen mo = for many years.
ne, nannen umare na no?
Hey, what year were you born?
ね、何年生まれなの？
nannen umare desu ka?
What year were you born?
何年生まれですか？
Written 何年 · なんねんRank #1099 in 3,030 TV dramas
-nenkan
for ... years (length of time)
Stresses the span: sannenkan = for three years; same sound changes as -nen (yonenkan).
Nenkan alone means 'per year': nenkan hyakuman en = a million yen a year.
gonenkan kaigai ni sundeta.
I lived abroad for five years.
五年間海外に住んでた。
gonenkan kaigai ni sunde imashita.
I lived abroad for five years.
五年間海外に住んでいました。
Written 年間 · ねんかんRank #1074 in 3,030 TV dramas
-nensei
year or grade (in school or university)
ichinensei, ninensei, sannensei, yonensei ...; daigaku yonensei = final-year university student; which year is nannensei.
The count restarts at each school: shougaku rokunensei, then chuugaku ichinensei.
imouto, ima koukou ninensei da yo.
My little sister's in her second year of high school.
妹、今高校二年生だよ。
imouto wa ima koukou ninensei desu.
My younger sister is in her second year of high school.
妹は今高校二年生です。
Written 年生 · ねんせいRank #5711 in 3,030 TV dramas