How to say “year” in Chinese
year
“Year” in Chinese is 年, nián: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
年 is read nián. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
How to write it
Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “年”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 年. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 我今年二十八岁。wǒjīnniánèrshíbāsuìI'm twenty-eight.
- 你今年多大nǐjīnniánduōdàHow old are you?
- 他儿子今年六岁tāérzijīnniánliùsuìHis son is six this year.
- 你哥哥今年多大？nǐgēgejīnniánduōdàHow old is your older brother?
- 我爷爷今年八十岁wǒyéyejīnniánbāshísuìMy grandpa is eighty this year.
- 你奶奶今年多大？nǐnǎinaijīnniánduōdàHow old is your grandma?
More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.
More words from the lesson “What's the date today?”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “year” in Chinese?
“Year” in Chinese is 年, pinyin nián.
What does 年 mean?
年 (nián) means “year”.
How do you write 年?
年 is 1 character. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 年?
年 is read nián. Tones: nián — second tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“year” in the lesson “What's the date today?”
This word is from the topic “Time and the day” of HSK 1. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.
Start for free