n.
the year after next
后年
the year after next
Literally 'after year' (后 after + 年 year). The year after next (two years from the current year).
Common Usage & Traps
- 后年买房 — buy a house the year after next
- 后年毕业 — graduate the year after next
- 后年春天 — the spring of the year after next
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在后年后年'在' feels natural after English 'in the year after next', but Chinese time words skip the bridge word and sit right before the verb.
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后年的时候后年'的时候' is a learner habit glued onto time words. 后年 already names the time, so it's just dead weight.
Is 后年 the year after next or the year before last?
后年 means the year after next. 前年 means the year before last. The characters flip your English brain.
Here's the mind-bender: in Chinese, the future sits behind you and the past sits in front. That's why 后天 is the day after tomorrow, but 前天 is the day before yesterday. 后年 follows that same logic: two years ahead of now. 前年 points the other way: two years already gone. So when a coworker asks about your 后年 plans, they mean two years from now.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Two years ahead | 后年 | 前年 (that's two years back) |
| Two years back | 前年 | 后年 (that's two years ahead) |
| Same pattern, days | 后天 (day after tomorrow) | 前天 (day before yesterday) |
Do you need 在 before 后年, like saying 'in' the year after next?
Skip the 在. Time words like 后年 go straight before the verb.
Chinese time words don't need a bridge word, because 后年 already tells you when. Saying 在后年买新房 sounds like you translated 'in the year after next' word for word. The same goes for 明年, 今年, and 昨天. Watch the order too: the time word leads the sentence. 我后年买新房 is natural, while 我买新房后年 sounds broken.
“后年可以买新房。” (The year after next, I can buy a new house.)
“后年可以买新房。” (The year after next, I can buy a new house.)
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Before the verb | 后年买新房 | 在后年买新房 |
| Word order | 我后年回国 | 我回国后年 |
Can you say 后年我去了北京 to mean 'I'll go to Beijing the year after next'?
No. 后年 looks forward, and 了 stamps something as done. They clash.
Don't treat 了 as a past-tense button. It marks an action as finished, so pairing it with a future year makes no sense. 后年我去了北京 tells the listener the trip already happened, which fights the future date. For plans, use 会, 要, or 可以, as in 后年会去北京. A sentence-final 了 works differently; 后年我就买房了 means 'by then I'll finally buy a house.'
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Future plan | 后年会去北京 | 后年去了北京 |
| By-then change | 后年我就买房了 | 后年买了房 |
Featured in Story Deep Dive
Follow how this word unfolds across the narrative arc of this graded story.
Follow a day from waking at six-thirty to coming home at eight, then leap across days, months, and years. This simple story helps you practice speaking about routines and life changes with clear time words.
- Scene #1
后年 可以买新房。
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