Question 1

Why do Chinese speakers say 今年, not 这年, for 'this year'?

Accepted Answer

Use 今年 for 'this year'; 这年 sounds wrong as an everyday time word. English says 'this year', so your brain wants 这 + 年. Chinese treats 今年 as one fixed time word, like 今天 and 明天. You can say 这一年 in a story, but 这年 alone is not the normal daily phrase.

Question 2

Can you use 今年 with 了, as in 今年有了新工作?

Accepted Answer

Yes. 了 marks the job change as done inside this year. 今年 is not a deadline that blocks 了. It just tells you the time window. If something changed inside that window, 了 marks it as a done deal. So 今年有了新工作 means the new job happened sometime this year.

“今年有了新工作。” (This year I got a new job.) ── 《时间和时候（1）卖车看电影》

Question 3

Where does 今年 go in a sentence: before the verb or at the end?

Accepted Answer

Put 今年 before the verb, not at the end of the sentence. Chinese time words like 今年, 今天, and 明年 usually sit before the verb. You can also put them at the start for emphasis. But dropping 今年 at the end sounds like an afterthought and often breaks the sentence.

Dimension	Natural	Avoid
Daily conversation	今年我学习。	这年我学习。
Set time words	今天、今年、明年	这年 as 'this year'

Dimension	Natural	Avoid
Done change	今年有了新工作。	今年了有新工作。
What 了 follows	有 + 了 = 有了	今年 + 了 = 今年了

Dimension	Natural	Avoid
Subject first	我今年去中国。	我去中国今年。
Time first	今年我去中国。	去中国我今年。
With a done action	我今年去了中国。	我去了中国今年。

今年

Common Usage & Traps

Why do Chinese speakers say 今年, not 这年, for 'this year'?

Can you use 今年 with 了, as in 今年有了新工作?

Where does 今年 go in a sentence: before the verb or at the end?

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