Chinese word

上半年

Pronunciation

Pinyinshàng bàn nián

Meaning

  • nounfirst half of the year

Example

他在上半年换了两份工作。tā zài shàng bàn nián huàn le liǎng fèn gōng zuò

He changed jobs twice in the first half of the year.

Illustration for 上半年 (first half of the year)

More examples

我们在上半年搬了家。wǒ men zài shàng bàn nián bān le jiā

We moved in the first half of the year.

Core concept

A year divided into two ordered six-month blocks, with this word pointing to the block that comes before the other.

Common phrases

  • 在上半年zài shàng bàn nián

    in the first half of the year

  • 今年上半年jīn nián shàng bàn nián

    in the first half of this year

  • 去年上半年qù nián shàng bàn nián

    in the first half of last year

Similar words

下半年xià bàn nián: The part of a year that runs from July to December.
年初nián chū: The early part of a year, mainly around January and February.
全年quán nián: The whole year from January through December.
年度nián dù: A year-long period for accounting or administration that may start in different months.

Definition in Chinese

表示一年中的前半阶段，强调时间顺序而非季节，通常指一月至六月这段时间。biǎo shì yì nián zhōng de qián bàn jiē duàn qiáng diào shí jiān shùn xù ér fēi jì jié tōng cháng zhǐ yí yuè zhì liù yuè zhè duàn shí jiān

Word origin

上 (shàng, "earlier") + 半 (bàn, "half") + 年 (nián, "year") literally combines an earlier position, a half, and a year to name the year's opening six-month period.

Usage tips

  • English usually makes the year reference explicit when no context supplies it, whereas Chinese can keep that reference compact in a time expression.

Other meanings

  • first halfnoun

Opposites

Word lists with this word