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一昨年 (ototoshi) Japanese meaning: the year before last | Kotomora

一昨年おととし

also: いっさくねん

お

と

と

し

Common word›JLPTN5›Freq.FrequencyTop 20,000

Meanings

1

the year before last

Refers to the year immediately preceding the previous year. Used both as a noun and adverbially.

一昨おと年とし、日本にほんに引ひっ越こしました。

I moved to Japan the year before last.

その映えい画がは一昨おと年とし公こう開かいされた。

That movie was released the year before last.

Usage patterns

一昨年おととしから〈動詞どうし〉〉to have been doing something since the year before last
一昨おと年としからこの会かい社しゃで働はたらいている。
I have been working at this company since the year before last.
一昨年おととしの今頃いまごろaround this time two years ago
一昨おと年としの今いま頃ごろは東とう京きょうに住すんでいました。
Around this time two years ago, I was living in Tokyo.

Kanji

一one, one radical (no.1)
昨yesterday, previous
年year, counter for years

Opposites

再さ来らい年ねんN5
一昨年 points two years into the past while 再来年 points two years into the future, making them mirror-image time references.

Don't confuse with

去きょ年ねんN5
去年 means 'last year' while 一昨年 means 'the year before last', so learners often mix up which one is meant.
一昨日おとといN5
一昨日 (the day before yesterday) and 一昨年 (the year before last) share the same 一昨 prefix and are easy to mix up, but one counts days and the other counts years.

Written forms

一昨年
- おととし
  Standard kanji spelling; commonly read as おととし in everyday speech.
- いっさくねん
  Formal or literary reading; rarely used in conversation.
おととしUsage100%
Kana spelling is common in informal writing and when avoiding the kanji.
おと年とし
Uncommon variant spelling; learners should prefer 一昨年 or kana.
いっさくねん

Etymology

The reading おととし continues an old native Japanese word for “the year before last”; 一昨年 is its semantic spelling. The formal reading いっさくねん is a separate Sino-Japanese reading of the same characters.