Updated January 8, 2026 — Lesson written by French teacher David Issokson for students who want to learn French online, with native audio by Marie Assel Cambier, a voice artist from France.
Level A2-B1 (Upper Beginner / Lower Intermediate)
The French Words of the Day are an and année, two words that often confuse learners because they both translate as “year.” In this lesson, I’ll show you a simple, foolproof way to choose the right one every time. With a clear comparison table and Marie’s native-speaker audio examples, you’ll finally know when to use an and when année — without second-guessing yourself again.
✅ Meaning
✅ Pronunciation
✅ Example sentences
✅ Related Words & Expressions
✅ Related lessons
📘 An and année meaning
An and année both mean “year” in French, but they are used differently. An is used to talk about time as a unit (age, duration, last year, next year, every year). Année is used when the year is described, qualified, or viewed as a whole (this year, a good year, several years). In short: use an for counting time, and année when the year has a quality, context, or description.
💡 An vs. année — summary table
| Situation (English) | an | année |
|---|---|---|
| Age | j’ai 20 ans (I’m 20) | ❌ |
| Duration (how long) | depuis trois ans (for three years) | ❌ |
| Turning an age | avoir 30 ans (to turn 30) | ❌ |
| Last / next year | l’an dernier / l’an prochain | l’année dernière / l’année prochaine |
| This year | ❌ | cette année (this year) |
| Every year | tous les ans (every year) | chaque année (each year) |
| Describing the year | ❌ | une bonne année (a good year) |
| Several / few years | ❌ | plusieurs / quelques années |
| Decades | ❌ | les années 90 (the 1990s) |
| Ordinal numbers | ❌ | la troisième année (the third year) |
🎧 An and Année pronunciation in French
The pronunciation of an is /ɑ̃/ (IPA), which sounds like “ahn”.
👉 The pronunciation of an is /ɑ̃/ (IPA), which sounds like “ahn”.
👉 The pronunciation of année is /a.ne/ (IPA), which sounds like “ah-nay”.
📝 An and année examples & usages
“An” examples
The following section will cover when to use an. Again, think of an as a unit of time.
Describing age
To describe somebody’s age in French use avoir (to have) plus the number of years. This lesson covers numbers.
Marc a vingt ans.
Marc is 20 years old.
For the above two example sentences, using année would be wrong. You cannot use année when talking about your age.
Use an to describe turning a certain age. For example:
Marie va avoir vingt-cinq ans en mars.
Marie will be 25 years-old in March.
👉 The verb avoir (to have) is used for age
See: Avoir conjugation charts (with audio for 6 tenses) »
How many years an action has occurred
Again, think of an as a unit of time. Use an when talking about how long you’ve been doing something, how long it’s been since an event occurred or when you will do something in the future. Using année for these example sentences would sound very awkward to the French ear.
On habite ici depuis trois ans.
We’ve been living here for three years.
Last year, next year, etc.
When talking about “last year” or “next year”, use an. For example.
Je suis allé à Paris l’an dernier.
I went to Paris last year.
👉 Aller (to go) requires the use of être in the passé composé.
See also: Être conjugation charts (with 6 audio tenses)
L’an prochain nous partons en Espagne.
Next year we’re going to Spain.
That said, you can use the word année in both of these sentences. You can say l’année prochaine to mean next year and l’année dernière to mean last year.
Use année to say “this year”. Saying an here would sound awkward. For example:
Qu’est-ce que tu fais cette année ?
What are you doing this year?
Every year
When saying “year” in the context of “every year” you must use an. The expression is tous les ans. For example:
Nous partons au Mexique tous les ans.
We go to Mexico every year.
👉 Partir means “to leave” but it’s also used for vacations (partir en vacances).
See also: Partir conjugation charts (with audio) »
“Année” examples
In general, use the word année when it’s attached to another word, such as an adjective. Also use année with quantifier words (each, few, many).
Good year, difficult year, etc.
Here are some examples of sentences where the quality of the year is being described with an adjective. Using the word an for these sounds would sound awkward to the French ear.
Je passe une bonne année.
I’m having a good year.
👉 See also: Bonne année (happy New Year) »
Elle passe une année difficile.
She’s having a hard year.
👉 See also: Passer conjugation charts (to pass, to spend time) »
This year
To say “this year”, use the demonstrative adjective cette followed by année. Again, using an wouldn’t sound right. For example:
Qu’est-ce que vous allez faire cette année ?
What are you going to do this year?
Referring to a decade
Use année when referring to a decade, such as the 1970s or 1980s. The following example sentence will include both an and année. As you can recall from above, an is referring to a unit of time.
J’ai passé un an en France aux années 90.
I spent a year in France in the 90s.
Les gens apprécient la musique des années 60.
People like music from the 1960s.
Ordinal numbers
When counting years with ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc.), use année.
C’est la troisième année de notre mariage.
It’s the third year of our marriage.
The word annèe can also be used to refer to grades in the Canadian school system. For example:
Marc est en cinquième année.
Marc is in the fifth grade.
Every year
To say ‘every year’ use chaque année. For example:
Je passe l’hiver dans les Alpes chaque année depuis mon enfance.
I’ve been spending the winter in the Alps each year since my childhood.
Several years or a few years
For “several years” use plusieurs années and for “a few years” use quelques années. For example:
Je voudrais passer quelques années en Europe.
I’d like to spend a few years in Europe.
Elle habite à Marseille depuis plusieurs années.
She’s been living in Marseille for several years.
So many years, too many years
To express “so many years” and “too many years”, use année. For example:
Ils se disputent depuis tellement d’années.
They’ve been arguing for so many years.
Antoine fume depuis trop d’années.
Antoine has been smoking for too many years.
How many years
Use combien d’années when asking about ‘how many years’. For example:
Depuis combien d’années habitez-vous en France?
How many years have you lived in France?
For years
When expressing “for years”, use des années. For example:
Il est comme ça depuis des années.
He’s been like that for years.
❓ Want to feel more confident in French?
🎯 À Moi Paris — This is my top recommendation for online French courses, and it pairs wonderfully with my daily lessons. Camille Chevalier teaches with engaging audio stories that she records at three speeds. Her specialty is helping students with pronunciation and bridging the gap between textbook French and real spoken French as you hear it on the streets of Paris.
👉 Explore À Moi Paris »
👉 Read my review »
🎧 French Verb Drills — Having trouble with French verb conjugations? Camille’s audio drills break everything down step by step so you can finally lock in the patterns and speak with confidence.
If you purchase the courses, I may earn a small commission — at no extra cost to you.
🔗 Related words and expressions
- l’année prochaine — next year
- l’an dernier — last year
- cette année — this year
- toute l’année — all year long
- chaque année — every year
- au fil des ans — over the years
- bonne année — happy new year
- nouvel an — new year
📚 Related lessons on FrenchLearner!
👉 Months of the year
👉 Days of the week
👉 Dates
👉 Numbers 1-100
👉 Bonne année (happy new year)
🚀 Continue learning French online on FrenchLearner!
👉 French Word of the Day »
👉 French Vocabulary lists »
👉 French for beginners guide »
👉 French song lyrics hub »
👉 French conjugations hub »
