Un año.
One year.
In an odd bet in a playroom every goal is worth a whole year, and this is the first one. Before a masculine noun, uno shrinks to un.
From Su juguete preferido · Spanish audio
Spanish vocabularyA1 · Beginner
How to say "year" in Spanish
el año
nounmasculineplural: los años
"Year" in Spanish is el año, and more than one year is los años. Always write the ñ: without its tilde the word turns into ano, an anatomy term you don't want in a greeting card. Spanish also counts your age in años, with the verb tener: Tengo veinte años.
Hear "año" in real movie scenes
One year, then five. Each video starts and stops on that line.
Ah, cinco años.
Oh, five years.
On a date she asks how long he has worked for the mayor. Past one year the word picks up an -s: año, años.
From Drop: Amenaza anónima · Spanish audio
Useful phrases with año
Six phrases for talking about time and age.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| este año | this year |
| el año que viene / el próximo año | next year |
| el año pasado | last year |
| hace dos años | two years ago |
| ¿Cuántos años tienes? | How old are you? |
| ¡Feliz año nuevo! | Happy New Year! |
Tip: Spanish reads a year as one whole number: 2026 is dos mil veintiséis, never split into two pairs the way English does.
Grammar: el año, los años
Four points for years and ages.
Masculine, plural in -s
el año, los años. Adjectives match it: un año largo, los años ochenta.Age goes with tener
In Spanish you have your years: Tengo quince años. The question is ¿Cuántos años tienes?Un año, veintiún años
Uno drops its -o in front of año: un año. The same happens in bigger numbers: veintiún años, twenty-one years.Naming a year
Use en for "in": en 2026, or en el año 2026. Say the number as a whole: dos mil veintiséis.Example sentences
Sentences from the Wordy Spanish course. Tap to listen.
Un año, no dos.
One year, not two.
Mi perro tiene catorce años.
My dog is fourteen.
Pues, tengo veinte años.
Well, I'm twenty.
¿Dos años?
Two years?
Common mistakes
Mistakes learners make with this word, and how to fix them.
✗ano (meaning year)
✓año
Without the tilde you've written the medical word for anus. On most phones, hold down the n key to get ñ.
✗Soy quince años
✓Tengo quince años
Age takes tener, to have. Ser doesn't work with a number of years.
✗uno año
✓un año
Uno loses its final -o right before a masculine noun.
Real conversation: how old are you?
A short dialog at a children's party. Tap through it.
Your neighbors are throwing a birthday party, and Andrea, the girl turning six, runs up to you.
¡Hola! ¡Es mi cumpleaños!
Hello! It's my birthday!
¿Y cuántos años tienes?
So how old are you?
¡Tengo seis años! ¿Y tú?
I'm six years old! How about you?
Your turn to answer
In the app you reply in Spanish for the last line.
Continue the conversation in WordyPractice: 3 quick exercises
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What do you hear in the video?
The other 33 exercises on this topic are in the app.
How to remember it
Picture the wavy line on the ñ of año as a calendar page curling up at the end of December. No curl, no year.
Questions about "year" in Spanish
How do you say year in Spanish?
El año, and in the plural los años. The ñ sounds like the ny in canyon: AH-nyoh.
What's the difference between año and ano?
Año with the tilde means year. Ano without it is the anatomical word for anus, so the little wave makes a big difference in a New Year message.
How do you ask "how old are you" in Spanish?
¿Cuántos años tienes? Answer with tener and the number: Tengo treinta años.
How do you say Happy New Year in Spanish?
¡Feliz año nuevo! January 1 itself is el día de Año Nuevo.
