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前年 (zennen) Japanese meaning: the previous year | Kotomora
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Sales exceeded those of the previous year.
It increased by 5% compared to the previous year.
Usage patterns 前ぜん 年ねん より 〈 数かず 〉 増ふ える to increase by a certain amount compared to the previous year
Sales this year increased by 10 percent compared to the previous year.
前ぜん 年ねん に 比くら べて 〈 事こと 〉 in comparison with the previous year, ~
Export figures rose significantly compared to the previous year.
Related words 去年 is the everyday, spoken word for 'last year', while 前年 is a formal term used in reports, statistics, and written business language.
昨年 and 前年 are both formal, but 昨年 simply means 'last year' relative to now, while 前年 usually refers to the year before a specific reference point mentioned in the text.
前年 refers to the previous year in a general calendar sense, while 前年度 specifically means the preceding fiscal year.
Word family preceding fiscal year; previous fiscal year
year-on-year; compared to the previous year
year-on-year decline; fall below the previous year's level
same month last year; year-ago month
Etymology Compound of 前 (ぜん, 'before') and 年 (ねん, 'year').
same period last year; corresponding period of the previous year