今年

ことし

this year

JLPT N5

Character Breakdown

Meaning and Usage

"今年" means "this year" or "the current year." It is used to refer to the calendar year in which the speaker is currently living or talking about. It is a very common time expression in daily conversation and writing.

Common Contexts

You will often see "今年" used when discussing plans, weather, events, or comparisons with other years. For example, "今年" (this year's Spring Festival) or "今年去年暖和" (this year is warmer than last year).

Collocations and Patterns

Notes

"今年" is always used as a time noun and usually appears at the beginning or middle of a sentence. It is not used as a verb or adjective. Avoid confusing it with "去年" (last year) or "明年" (next year).

Example Sentences

We plan to go home for the Spring Festival this year.

The weather this year is much warmer than last year.

This year I plan to learn more Chinese characters.