also: いっさくねん
noun, adverb
the year before last
Refers to the year immediately preceding the previous year. Used both as a noun and adverbially.
一昨年、日本に引っ越しました。
I moved to Japan the year before last.
その映画は一昨年公開された。
That movie was released the year before last.
Standard kanji spelling; commonly read as おととし in everyday speech.
Formal or literary reading; rarely used in conversation.
Kana spelling is common in informal writing and when avoiding the kanji.
Uncommon variant spelling; learners should prefer 一昨年 or kana.
Compound of 一 (one) + 昨 (previous) + 年 (year). The reading おととし is a native Japanese word, while いっさくねん is a Sino-Japanese reading used in formal contexts.