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去年 (きょねん) Japanese meaning | Kotomora

去きょ年ねん

also: こぞ

きょ

ね

ん

Common word›JLPTN5›Freq.FrequencyTop 5,000

Meanings

1

Refers to the previous calendar year. Can be used as a noun or adverbially without a particle.

去きょ年ねんの夏なつはとても暑あつかった。

Last summer was very hot.

彼かれは去きょ年ねん大だい学がくを卒そつ業ぎょうした。

He graduated from university last year.

Usage patterns

去きょ年ねんの〈時とき〉last ___ (a season, month, etc. from last year)
去きょ年ねんの夏なつはとても暑あつかった。
Last summer was very hot.
去きょ年ねんに比くらべてcompared to last year
去きょ年ねんに比くらべて売うり上あげが伸のびた。
Sales have grown compared to last year.
去きょ年ねんから〈事こと〉since last year
去きょ年ねんから日本にほん語ごを勉べん強きょうしている。
I've been studying Japanese since last year.

Kanji

去gone, past, quit
年year, counter for years

Related words

今年ことしN5
今年 means 'this year', the current year, while 去年 refers to the year before it; they are adjacent time terms rather than true synonyms but are often used together for comparison.
前ぜん年ねんN1
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.
昨さく年ねん度ど
去年 is the everyday word for 'last year' in calendar terms, while 昨年度 is used specifically for fiscal or academic years in institutional contexts.

Opposites

来らい年ねんN5
来年 means 'next year', the direct opposite of 去年 'last year'.
今年ことしN5
去年 means 'last year', while 今年 means 'this year'.

Politeness

昨さく年ねんpolite 丁寧語N3
昨年 and 去年 both mean 'last year', but 昨年 is the more formal word used in writing and formal speech, while 去年 is the everyday spoken term.

Don't confuse with

一昨年おととしN5
去年 means 'last year' while 一昨年 means 'the year before last', so learners often mix up which one is meant.
昨さく春しゅん
去年 is the everyday word for 'last year' in general, while 昨春 specifically points to last spring and sounds more formal.

Word family

去きょ年ねん末まつ
end of last year

Written forms

去年Usage99%
- きょねん
  Standard kanji spelling for 'last year'.
- こぞ
  out-dated reading

Etymology

Compound of 去 (kyo, 'past') and 年 (nen, 'year'). The reading こぞ is an older form now considered obsolete.

こぞ

Usage<1%

out-dated reading

Obsolete kana usage; not used in modern Japanese.