翌年(よくねん)

A relative time noun meaning "the year after (a previously mentioned year)." The reference year must be established in context — 翌年(よくねん) does not mean "next year from now."

Common collocations

• 翌年(よくねん)の春(はる): the spring of the following year
• 翌年(よくねん)3月(さんがつ): March of the following year
• 翌年(よくねん)に入(はい)る: to enter the following year
• 翌年(よくねん)から: starting the following year
• 翌年(よくねん)までに: by the following year

Similar words

• 来年(らいねん): next year — relative to the current year from the speaker's standpoint.
• 翌年(よくねん): the following year — relative to a year previously mentioned in context.
• 明年(みょうねん): next year — a more formal, written equivalent of 来年(らいねん), used in letters and announcements.
• 翌(よく)年度(ねんど): the following fiscal year — used when talking about fiscal or academic years rather than calendar years.

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Written or semi-formal. Common in news, biographies, historical writing, official reports, and narrative descriptions of sequences of events. In casual conversation, Japanese speakers often use 次(つぎ)の年(とし) (the next year) instead.

Related time nouns

• 翌日(よくじつ): the following day
• 翌週(よくしゅう): the following week
• 翌月(よくげつ): the following month
• 翌朝(よくあさ): the following morning

These all follow the same pattern: 翌(よく) + time unit = "the following X." They all require a reference point from context.