How to Say "Every Year" in French

chaque année

The English phrase "every year" is translated into French as chaque année.

The phrase is used to describe something that happens once in every twelve-month period.

What does it mean word for word?

The phrase is composed of chaque meaning "each" and année meaning "year".

While chaque année focuses on each individual year in a sequence, tous les ans is a common synonym that translates more literally to "all the years".

The word chaque is always followed by a singular noun, so you must use the singular année rather than the plural années.

The word chaque is a linguistic relative of the Spanish and Portuguese word cada, sharing a distant ancestor in the Ancient Greek word katá.
In French, the word année uses a specific suffix -ée to transform the unit of time an into a word that describes the duration or the content of that time.
If a French speaker wants to say something happens 'year after year' to emphasize a tedious or long repetition, they use the phrase année après année rather than chaque année.

Tu nous invites chaque année.
You invite us every year.
This sentence shows how to use chaque année with the verb "invites".
Tatoeba #11963927 by Amastan, translation #1817208 by Amastan
Nous venons ici chaque année.
We come here every year.
This sentence shows how to use chaque année to describe a recurring visit.
Tatoeba #13378068 by lbdx, translation #10862348 by ddnktr
Ziri déménageait chaque année.
Ziri moved every year.
This sentence shows how to use chaque année when describing a past habitual action.
Tatoeba #11963926 by Amastan, translation #11370293 by Amastan
Le festival a lieu chaque année au mois de juillet.
The festival takes place every year in July.
La cérémonie a lieu tous les ans à la même date.
The ceremony takes place every year on the same date.
On se retrouve chaque année pour fêter Noël en famille.
We get together every year to celebrate Christmas with the family.
Tous les ans, on part en vacances à la mer avec nos amis.
Every year, we go on vacation to the seaside with our friends.
Tous les ans, je fais un voyage à l'étranger.
Every year, I take a trip abroad.
Chaque année, nous célébrons notre anniversaire de mariage avec une soirée romantique.
Every year, we celebrate our wedding anniversary with a romantic evening.
78 more sentences on Tatoeba

Hugo and Chloé are talking about a family tradition.

Hugo

Est-ce que tu visites tes grands-parents chaque année ?
Do you visit your grandparents every year?
Chloé

Oui, je les vois chaque année en été.
Yes, I see them every year in the summer.
Hugo

C'est une très bonne habitude.
That is a very good habit.
Chloé

Merci, Hugo.
Thanks, Hugo.

Sources

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