<p>十余年 means more than ten years but less than twenty years.</p>
<blockquote>
<h3>Oxford Chinese-English Dictionary</h3>
<p>余 (2)</p>
<p>C. 数</p>
<p>over</p>
<ul>
<li><p>20余人</p>
<pre><code>  twenty-odd people
</code></pre>
</li>
<li><p>有百余人。</p>
<pre><code>  There are over a hundred people.
</code></pre>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Modern Chinese Dictionary</h3>
<p>余 (2)</p>
<p>(5) [数] 表示整数之外的零头，相当于“多”。</p>
<pre><code>二十余人
</code></pre>
</blockquote>
<p>So basically, when 余 follows a number, it often indicates the remainder over the smallest unit (个、十、百、千、万...) of the round number it follows.</p>
<p>Examples:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>十余 = 1十+余</p>
<p>the round number is 十(10)</p>
<p>∵ the unit of the round number is 十(10^1)</p>
<p>∴ 余 &lt; 十(10)</p>
<p>∴ 10 &lt; 十余 &lt; 20</p>
</li>
<li><p>两百余 = 2百+余</p>
<p>the round number is 2百(200)</p>
<p>∵ the unit of the round number is 百(10^2)</p>
<p>∴ 余 &lt; 百(10^2)</p>
<p>∴ 200 &lt; 两百余 &lt; 300</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>P.S:</p>
<p>The construction pattern: XXX (专注/引领) YYY ZZZ(余) 年 is a common usage among slogans and promotional materials. XXX is often the name of a company, YYY is the industry or business the company is in and zzz is the time it has been doing the business. This is generally to show that the company has a long history in the business and has a lot of experiences.</p>
<p>Example:</p>
<ul>
<li>IBM专注商业计算200年</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-27T22:54:38.277Z
Thanks, but I don't think you quite understood what I was asking. We have the phrase ‘余年’ = ‘余生’。This is easily understood. Both phrases indicate 'future time, time remaining'. However, if I place '十‘ in front of '余年‘ the meaning changes radically. '十余年‘ indicates 'past time, for the past 10 years or more'. I find this very strange.
Pedroski
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-28T00:09:45.847Z
@Pedroski I see your point here. If you want to say 10 years left it should be 余十年, which I could recall seeing anywhere. But the construction is definitely correct. The usage of 余 here and 余年 are different from it in 十余年. Actually I only see 余生 in real world usage, 余年 is way too fancy even in written unless for poems or lyrics
user1228520
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-28T00:34:15.827Z
Thanks again, I could understand that in my sentence '十余年‘ could not be referring to 'remaining years', but the dictionaries told me '余年‘ means that, which was confusing.
Pedroski
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-28T03:10:42.477Z
@Pedroski You got confused probably because you didn't parse it correctly. It's 十余|年 not 十|余年. So it has nothing to do with 余年.
hrzhu
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-28T04:42:05.210Z
Thanks, I can understand that too. What puzzles me, what really interests me from the semantic point of view, is, how do we know this? 余年 is an ordinary phrase. Put 十 in front and everything changes. How or why this is so interests me. Imagine a molecule made of 2 atoms BC, then along comes an atom A. A interacts with BC, and afterwards we are left with AB as a molecule, and C as an atom. This is a result of potential energy differences. In Linguistics, what is the underlying cause?
Pedroski
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-30T00:58:03.577Z
@Pedroski, let me try to explain it in a more linguistic sense. First of all, I'd say 余年 is a collective term for all the senior years or the last years in one's life. This make it uncountable or always plural and you seldom quantified directly in sentences. This makes the parsing 十余年 as 十|余年 inappropriate and could be only parsed as 十余|年. Think 余年/少年/中年/晚年 as "childhood" which you can say "ten years of childhood" or "ten childhood years" but you wouldn't say "ten childhood".
user1228520
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-30T00:58:44.000Z
@Pedroski [continued] The tricky part is that although the word contains 年(year) it actually is denoting the a period of time or simply yearS. In Chinese, there are many such retrospective analysation since when those usages were created, novelty constructions were often considered to be literary talent. For example, 余年 is basically the same as 晚年 nowadays, but in some occasions some authors would insist on the former one. To me it's a little bit pretentious though unless its in a poem or 成语 or 对联 or title of a book etc., Hope above information is helpful in someway.
user1228520
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-01T04:26:35.060Z
Thanks for your explanation. My problem is, I don't yet have a 'feel' for Chinese, so it is sometimes hard to understand these kinds of shifts in meaning. Thanks!
Pedroski
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-25T00:24:01.797Z
2015-03-25T00:24:01.797Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
user1228520
<p>I have:</p>

<p>娃哈哈连续十余年领跑中国饮料行业，</p>

<p>I keep seeing 余年 = one's remaining years, but I'm pretty sure 十余年 means 'for the last ten years', not the (10 remaining) years ahead.</p>

<p>It's not as if 娃哈哈 only has 10 years left, or is it??</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-24T23:50:40.710Z
iciba：余 <数> （大数或度量单位等后面的零头） more than ； odd ； over 
十余年：More than ten years
相关例句：
1.The country was an artificial construct held together by force and intimidation for more than 70 years.这个国家是靠武力和恐吓维系达七十余年的人治政权。

iciba翻译：Wahaha beverage industry for more than ten years leading the Chinese，
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-24T23:53:34.840Z
Thanks, but why do the dictionaries keep saying 'the years ahead, remaining', when this clearly refers to years gone by, the past??http://www.zdic.net/c/9/156/342784.htm
Pedroski
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-25T00:02:53.937Z
＂汉语水平考试词典＂余   （动／名／数）。。。（数）［义３］整数以后的零数（书）（more than；odd；over）：一百～斤｜二十～元｜他在部队当了十～年兵
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-25T00:09:50.500Z
why not consult mentioned www.zdic.net。for 余
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-25T00:43:58.083Z
dictionaries say as adjective 形容词，余 means   （剩下的） surplus ； spare ； remaining ； as 数词  it has the meaning stated above， this can be compared with such other 数词 for approximate numbers （概数）as   多、来 which follow ＂十、百、千、完＂等数词后边表示多于前边的数目。This has been discussed at this site at leastfor 多 before。In the case of 上下 the number can be more general
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-25T01:07:35.180Z
So basically adding 十 reverses the direction of 余年 from looking forward to looking back. Is 十余年 exactly the same as  十多年？
Pedroski
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-25T02:39:28.267Z
since 余年 by itself means ＂one＇s remaining years＂ it seems 余１０年 would be understood as ＂one＇s remaining １０ years＂，in the sense of ＂time span until death＂，but outside this context ＂remaining＂余十年／＂１０ years remain＂ seems possible but somewhat doubtful， on the other hand with 尚 added on，it can mean ＂remaining＂，in any context， see iciba， also  现代汉语词典：余 （１）剩下；～粮｜～钱｜不遗～力｜收支相抵，尚～一百元，
user6065
<meaning>
What is the meaning of 十余年 here?
# What is the meaning of 十余年 here?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-03-24)

I have:

娃哈哈连续十余年领跑中国饮料行业，

I keep seeing 余年 = one's remaining years, but I'm pretty sure 十余年 means 'for the last ten years', not the (10 remaining) years ahead.

It's not as if 娃哈哈 only has 10 years left, or is it??

**Tags:** meaning

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: iciba：余 <数> （大数或度量单位等后面的零头） more than ； odd ； over  十余年：More than ten years 相关例句： 1.The country was an artificial construct held together by force and intimidation for more than 70 years.这个国家是靠武力和恐吓维系达七十余年的人治政权。  iciba翻译：Wahaha beverage industry for more than ten years leading the Chinese，  
> **username_0**: Thanks, but why do the dictionaries keep saying 'the years ahead, remaining', when this clearly refers to years gone by, the past??http://www.zdic.net/c/9/156/342784.htm  
> **username_1**: ＂汉语水平考试词典＂余   （动／名／数）。。。（数）［义３］整数以后的零数（书）（more than；odd；over）：一百～斤｜二十～元｜他在部队当了十～年兵  
> **username_1**: why not consult mentioned www.zdic.net。for 余  
> **username_1**: dictionaries say as adjective 形容词，余 means   （剩下的） surplus ； spare ； remaining ； as 数词  it has the meaning stated above， this can be compared with such other 数词 for approximate numbers （概数）as   多、来 which follow ＂十、百、千、完＂等数词后边表示多于前边的数目。This has been discussed at this site at leastfor 多 before。In the case of 上下 the number can be more general  
> **username_0**: So basically adding 十 reverses the direction of 余年 from looking forward to looking back. Is 十余年 exactly the same as  十多年？  
> **username_1**: since 余年 by itself means ＂one＇s remaining years＂ it seems 余１０年 would be understood as ＂one＇s remaining １０ years＂，in the sense of ＂time span until death＂，but outside this context ＂remaining＂余十年／＂１０ years remain＂ seems possible but somewhat doubtful， on the other hand with 尚 added on，it can mean ＂remaining＂，in any context， see iciba， also  现代汉语词典：余 （１）剩下；～粮｜～钱｜不遗～力｜收支相抵，尚～一百元，  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2015-03-25. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

十余年 means more than ten years but less than twenty years.

> ### Oxford Chinese-English Dictionary
>
> 余 (2)
>
> C. 数
>
> over
>
> * 20余人
>
>   ```
>     twenty-odd people
>
>   ```
> * 有百余人。
>
>   ```
>     There are over a hundred people.
>
>   ```
>
> ### Modern Chinese Dictionary
>
> 余 (2)
>
> (5) [数] 表示整数之外的零头，相当于“多”。
>
> ```
> 二十余人
>
> ```

So basically, when 余 follows a number, it often indicates the remainder over the smallest unit (个、十、百、千、万...) of the round number it follows.

Examples:

* 十余 = 1十+余

  the round number is 十(10)

  ∵ the unit of the round number is 十(10^1)

  ∴ 余 < 十(10)

  ∴ 10 < 十余 < 20
* 两百余 = 2百+余

  the round number is 2百(200)

  ∵ the unit of the round number is 百(10^2)

  ∴ 余 < 百(10^2)

  ∴ 200 < 两百余 < 300

P.S:

The construction pattern: XXX (专注/引领) YYY ZZZ(余) 年 is a common usage among slogans and promotional materials. XXX is often the name of a company, YYY is the industry or business the company is in and zzz is the time it has been doing the business. This is generally to show that the company has a long history in the business and has a lot of experiences.

Example:

* IBM专注商业计算200年

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks, but I don't think you quite understood what I was asking. We have the phrase ‘余年’ = ‘余生’。This is easily understood. Both phrases indicate 'future time, time remaining'. However, if I place '十‘ in front of '余年‘ the meaning changes radically. '十余年‘ indicates 'past time, for the past 10 years or more'. I find this very strange.  
> **username_2**: @username_0 I see your point here. If you want to say 10 years left it should be 余十年, which I could recall seeing anywhere. But the construction is definitely correct. The usage of 余 here and 余年 are different from it in 十余年. Actually I only see 余生 in real world usage, 余年 is way too fancy even in written unless for poems or lyrics  
> **username_0**: Thanks again, I could understand that in my sentence '十余年‘ could not be referring to 'remaining years', but the dictionaries told me '余年‘ means that, which was confusing.  
> **username_3**: @username_0 You got confused probably because you didn't parse it correctly. It's 十余|年 not 十|余年. So it has nothing to do with 余年.  
> **username_0**: Thanks, I can understand that too. What puzzles me, what really interests me from the semantic point of view, is, how do we know this? 余年 is an ordinary phrase. Put 十 in front and everything changes. How or why this is so interests me. Imagine a molecule made of 2 atoms BC, then along comes an atom A. A interacts with BC, and afterwards we are left with AB as a molecule, and C as an atom. This is a result of potential energy differences. In Linguistics, what is the underlying cause?  
> **username_2**: @username_0, let me try to explain it in a more linguistic sense. First of all, I'd say 余年 is a collective term for all the senior years or the last years in one's life. This make it uncountable or always plural and you seldom quantified directly in sentences. This makes the parsing 十余年 as 十|余年 inappropriate and could be only parsed as 十余|年. Think 余年/少年/中年/晚年 as "childhood" which you can say "ten years of childhood" or "ten childhood years" but you wouldn't say "ten childhood".  
> **username_2**: @username_0 [continued] The tricky part is that although the word contains 年(year) it actually is denoting the a period of time or simply yearS. In Chinese, there are many such retrospective analysation since when those usages were created, novelty constructions were often considered to be literary talent. For example, 余年 is basically the same as 晚年 nowadays, but in some occasions some authors would insist on the former one. To me it's a little bit pretentious though unless its in a poem or 成语 or 对联 or title of a book etc., Hope above information is helpful in someway.  
> **username_0**: Thanks for your explanation. My problem is, I don't yet have a 'feel' for Chinese, so it is sometimes hard to understand these kinds of shifts in meaning. Thanks!  

---

