<p>This is not an answer specifically for the OP's question, but closely related, and in particular, to address the misleading interpretation of 前两年 in one of the answers.</p>
<p>前两年often means</p>
<ol>
<li>&quot;the past two or several years&quot; or &quot;the past couple of years&quot;,</li>
</ol>
<p>but it may also mean two other things:</p>
<ol start="2">
<li><p>(around the time) a couple of years ago, e.g., 前两年油价要低的多 -- &quot;the gas price was much lower (around the time) back a couple of years ago&quot;</p>
</li>
<li><p>the first two years of the period preceding the phrase, e.g., 在婴儿出生后的前两年，奶是最重要的营养源 -- &quot;In the first two years of life , milk is the most important source of nutrition for a baby&quot;</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>The actual meaning of the phrase depends on the context, and if spoken, also the intonation/stress as well -- this is often overlooked by non-native speakers who learned their Chinese primarily from textbook/schools. For example, the 前 in 前两年油价要低的多 is usually stressed and 两 is unstressed (<em>probably</em> this is a reflection that 两 here means &quot;some&quot; -- I am not language researcher, just a genuine native speaker); while in 在婴儿出生后的前两年, 两is more stressed. In writing, we have to tell the difference by the context, as in presumably most other languages.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-06T16:27:37.370Z
2022-02-06T16:27:37.370Z
ALife
<p>Each of the two phases has its specific meaning:</p>
<p>去年 - last year, the year before (this year).</p>
<p>前年 - the year before the last year (去年).</p>
<p>Sometimes you will hear people say &quot;前兩年&quot;, it really means &quot;the past two years&quot;, with the reference time is &quot;now&quot;, so it includes both 去年 and 前年.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-02T07:15:15.693Z
前兩年 does not necessarily mean precisely the past two years, but the past several (or couple of, in the sense of not exactly two, but several) years, and sometimes, it could even mean several years ago. Maybe you inferred the meaning of 前兩年 through dictionary or certain logic, but we native speakers do not use the phrase as you thought.
ALife
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-02T15:04:49.163Z
@ALife Do you mean 前兩年 = 前幾年 and 兩年前 = 幾年前?
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-02T16:50:28.467Z
For the first interpretation (past several years), yes. But they could also mean the 2nd interpretation, which is similar to 兩年前 or 幾年前, with some addition implication about a *period* of time back then. In other words, the 2nd meaning is like "the time around a couple of years ago". E.g., 前两年油价要低的多， meaning "the gas price was much lower (around the time) back a couple of years ago".
ALife
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-02T18:33:42.963Z
@ALife **前两年**油价要低的多, meaning "**at last year and the year before**, the gas price was much lower". It can't be right for 3, 4, or 5 years ago, which shall use **前幾年** instead, as long as it is too far out, as 幾年 is undefined.
r13
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2022-02-05T12:20:30.110Z
maybe your understanding is what you learned/concluded from textbooks, but unfortunately, it is not how we native speakers use the phrase. In practice, as in many other occasions, the meaning also depends on the context and the intonation/stress of the words/phrase.
ALife
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-05T15:19:10.877Z
@ALife True, many natives either do not know how to speak/write their national language the correct way or how to distinguish slang and correct terms.
r13
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2022-02-05T18:33:42.290Z
that's true, but you are obviously not qualified to challenge given your ignorance about Chinese language, at least those 普通话 used in mainland china. It makes no sense for me to argue with you, as you might have heard: 秀才遇到兵，有理说不清。Feel free to keep you way to yourself, but please, please do not show your mistakes around and mislead others. Thank you.
ALife
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-05T19:45:57.037Z
@ALife Sorry to make feel been offended, but it is common in every country that many people speak without ever knowing there is a mistake as long as no one around bothers to correct it (trivial). 在論壇上, 每個人都有自己的觀點, 不能接受就說兩句自己的見解, 但最好是點到為止, 沒必要強迫推銷. 放清鬆點, 這不是打仗 :)
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-06T14:05:21.777Z
No, I am not offended. I was just pointing out that you are not qualified to challenge a native speaker given your past track record and the reasons you provided for this case as well. And even more importantly, you should not mislead others. As I said, you are free to keep your whatever view and I am not interested in educating you given your attitude, but I feel I am obliged to keep others on this site informed. Take care.
ALife
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-06T15:00:16.757Z
@ALife 誰能證明你是說中文長大的? 誰又能證明我不是? 到此為止吧, 多說無益. https://tw.ichacha.net/%E5%89%8D%E5%85%A9%E5%B9%B4.html
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-06T15:52:14.747Z
An online dictionary is far from being convincing, both for its possible inaccuracy and the lack of comprehensiveness; there are many such examples. The fact you've been heavily relying on such tools also shows that you are likely not a native speaker. And your use of 繁体 indicates you are likely not a native speaker from mainland China, even if (although not very likely) you are indeed a native speaker of a different background. I do not remember you ever said that you yourself 是說中文長大的, let alone growing up in mainland China.
ALife
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2022-02-06T15:57:13.197Z
@ALife You don't even have a reference for your position on this matter. We are wasting our time. **Please avoid extended discussions in comments.**
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-06T15:58:25.407Z
FWIW, I grew in northern China where people speak fairly standard mandarin. I spent almost my entire time in Beijing since college age with classmates/friends from most of provinces in mainland China and continue to communicate with similar Chinese on a daily basis since I moved to the US.
ALife
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-06T16:01:54.133Z
Well, even your own reference has the following example: "This was driven , in particular , by the foreign retail banking sector , foreign companies that are looking to set up their china operation now , but were hesitant to do so a few years ago and also by several local chinese insurance and banking corporations
一些外资商业银行，国内的一些保险公司、银行，以及一些前两年还在犹豫之中，但最近下定决心在中国开设分支机构的外资企业，都表现出对甲级写字楼物业的大量需求"
ALife
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-02T01:04:00.303Z
2022-02-02T01:04:00.303Z
r13
<p>Nope. In Mandarin: 前年 means the year before last year.
前天 means the day before yesterday.</p>
<p>As @Tang Ho mentioned in the comments, in Cantonese:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The day before yesterday&quot; in Cantonese is 前日; It might sound strange,
&quot;yesterday&quot; in Cantonese is 尋日/噚日/擒日/琴日. The year before last year is 前年, last year is 舊年(colloquial) or 去年 (literary)</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-01T17:47:36.723Z
Even 日前 doesn't mean a day before, it means days before, similar to 早前 (sometime before)
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-01T19:35:15.017Z
@TangHo I said 前天, which is different then 日前. Any native Mandarin speaker will refer the day before yesterday as 前天. Guess it is not widely used in Cantonese? https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%89%8D%E5%A4%A9
Archeosudoerus
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-01T20:14:30.407Z
"The day before yesterday"  in Cantonese is 前日; It might sound strange, "yesterday" in Cantonese is 尋日/噚日/擒日/琴日
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-02T15:43:30.950Z
@TangHo Ah, good to know, how about for the year? the year before last year. Can I include your comments in to the answer itself?
Archeosudoerus
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-02T20:03:46.257Z
In Cantonese,  the year before last year is 前年, last year is 舊年(colloquial) or 去年 (literary). You can quote my comment
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-01T15:40:44.227Z
2022-02-02T20:20:36.713Z
2022-02-02T20:20:36.713Z
Archeosudoerus
<p>I saw people using &quot;去年&quot; to refer to as &quot;Last year&quot;.</p>
<p>Can I use &quot;前年&quot; to refer to as &quot;Last year&quot;?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-02T02:09:22.910Z
You could say 昨天, (Zuó tiān), for "yesterday", but not 昨年 for "last year". That's just the way the language is, I suppose. Perhaps, 昨, already means "yesterday"
Wayne Cheah
<meaning>
Can I use "前年" to refer to as "Last year"?
# Can I use "前年" to refer to as "Last year"?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-02-01)

I saw people using "去年" to refer to as "Last year".

Can I use "前年" to refer to as "Last year"?

**Tags:** meaning

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: You could say 昨天, (Zuó tiān), for "yesterday", but not 昨年 for "last year". That's just the way the language is, I suppose. Perhaps, 昨, already means "yesterday"  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2022-02-01. Score: 6 | Accepted answer

Nope. In Mandarin: 前年 means the year before last year.
前天 means the day before yesterday.

As @username_5 mentioned in the comments, in Cantonese:

> The day before yesterday" in Cantonese is 前日; It might sound strange,
> "yesterday" in Cantonese is 尋日/噚日/擒日/琴日. The year before last year is 前年, last year is 舊年(colloquial) or 去年 (literary)

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: Even 日前 doesn't mean a day before, it means days before, similar to 早前 (sometime before)  
> **username_4**: @username_5 I said 前天, which is different then 日前. Any native Mandarin speaker will refer the day before yesterday as 前天. Guess it is not widely used in Cantonese? https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%89%8D%E5%A4%A9  
> **username_5**: "The day before yesterday"  in Cantonese is 前日; It might sound strange, "yesterday" in Cantonese is 尋日/噚日/擒日/琴日  
> **username_4**: @username_5 Ah, good to know, how about for the year? the year before last year. Can I include your comments in to the answer itself?  
> **username_5**: In Cantonese,  the year before last year is 前年, last year is 舊年(colloquial) or 去年 (literary). You can quote my comment  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2022-02-06. Score: 1

This is not an answer specifically for the OP's question, but closely related, and in particular, to address the misleading interpretation of 前两年 in one of the answers.

前两年often means

1. "the past two or several years" or "the past couple of years",

but it may also mean two other things:

2. (around the time) a couple of years ago, e.g., 前两年油价要低的多 -- "the gas price was much lower (around the time) back a couple of years ago"
3. the first two years of the period preceding the phrase, e.g., 在婴儿出生后的前两年，奶是最重要的营养源 -- "In the first two years of life , milk is the most important source of nutrition for a baby"

The actual meaning of the phrase depends on the context, and if spoken, also the intonation/stress as well -- this is often overlooked by non-native speakers who learned their Chinese primarily from textbook/schools. For example, the 前 in 前两年油价要低的多 is usually stressed and 两 is unstressed (*probably* this is a reflection that 两 here means "some" -- I am not language researcher, just a genuine native speaker); while in 在婴儿出生后的前两年, 两is more stressed. In writing, we have to tell the difference by the context, as in presumably most other languages.


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2022-02-02. Score: 0

Each of the two phases has its specific meaning:

去年 - last year, the year before (this year).

前年 - the year before the last year (去年).

Sometimes you will hear people say "前兩年", it really means "the past two years", with the reference time is "now", so it includes both 去年 and 前年.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: 前兩年 does not necessarily mean precisely the past two years, but the past several (or couple of, in the sense of not exactly two, but several) years, and sometimes, it could even mean several years ago. Maybe you inferred the meaning of 前兩年 through dictionary or certain logic, but we native speakers do not use the phrase as you thought.  
> **username_3**: @username_2 Do you mean 前兩年 = 前幾年 and 兩年前 = 幾年前?  
> **username_2**: For the first interpretation (past several years), yes. But they could also mean the 2nd interpretation, which is similar to 兩年前 or 幾年前, with some addition implication about a *period* of time back then. In other words, the 2nd meaning is like "the time around a couple of years ago". E.g., 前两年油价要低的多， meaning "the gas price was much lower (around the time) back a couple of years ago".  
> **username_3**: @username_2 **前两年**油价要低的多, meaning "**at last year and the year before**, the gas price was much lower". It can't be right for 3, 4, or 5 years ago, which shall use **前幾年** instead, as long as it is too far out, as 幾年 is undefined.  
> **username_2**: maybe your understanding is what you learned/concluded from textbooks, but unfortunately, it is not how we native speakers use the phrase. In practice, as in many other occasions, the meaning also depends on the context and the intonation/stress of the words/phrase.  
> **username_3**: @username_2 True, many natives either do not know how to speak/write their national language the correct way or how to distinguish slang and correct terms.  
> **username_2**: that's true, but you are obviously not qualified to challenge given your ignorance about Chinese language, at least those 普通话 used in mainland china. It makes no sense for me to argue with you, as you might have heard: 秀才遇到兵，有理说不清。Feel free to keep you way to yourself, but please, please do not show your mistakes around and mislead others. Thank you.  
> **username_3**: @username_2 Sorry to make feel been offended, but it is common in every country that many people speak without ever knowing there is a mistake as long as no one around bothers to correct it (trivial). 在論壇上, 每個人都有自己的觀點, 不能接受就說兩句自己的見解, 但最好是點到為止, 沒必要強迫推銷. 放清鬆點, 這不是打仗 :)  
> **username_2**: No, I am not offended. I was just pointing out that you are not qualified to challenge a native speaker given your past track record and the reasons you provided for this case as well. And even more importantly, you should not mislead others. As I said, you are free to keep your whatever view and I am not interested in educating you given your attitude, but I feel I am obliged to keep others on this site informed. Take care.  
> **username_3**: @username_2 誰能證明你是說中文長大的? 誰又能證明我不是? 到此為止吧, 多說無益. https://tw.ichacha.net/%E5%89%8D%E5%85%A9%E5%B9%B4.html  
> **username_2**: An online dictionary is far from being convincing, both for its possible inaccuracy and the lack of comprehensiveness; there are many such examples. The fact you've been heavily relying on such tools also shows that you are likely not a native speaker. And your use of 繁体 indicates you are likely not a native speaker from mainland China, even if (although not very likely) you are indeed a native speaker of a different background. I do not remember you ever said that you yourself 是說中文長大的, let alone growing up in mainland China.  
> **username_3**: @username_2 You don't even have a reference for your position on this matter. We are wasting our time. **Please avoid extended discussions in comments.**  
> **username_2**: FWIW, I grew in northern China where people speak fairly standard mandarin. I spent almost my entire time in Beijing since college age with classmates/friends from most of provinces in mainland China and continue to communicate with similar Chinese on a daily basis since I moved to the US.  
> **username_2**: Well, even your own reference has the following example: "This was driven , in particular , by the foreign retail banking sector , foreign companies that are looking to set up their china operation now , but were hesitant to do so a few years ago and also by several local chinese insurance and banking corporations 一些外资商业银行，国内的一些保险公司、银行，以及一些前两年还在犹豫之中，但最近下定决心在中国开设分支机构的外资企业，都表现出对甲级写字楼物业的大量需求"  

---

