Ways to say it
| Spanish |
|---|
| el año pasado / precedente |
| antaño (disused) |
The phrase 'el año pasado' is a common way to say 'last year' in Spanish. In parts of Central America, el año recién pasado is used to convey the idea of 'last year'.
Which one should you use?
While el año pasado is the standard way to say 'last year', el año precedente is more formal and often used in technical or legal contexts to mean 'the preceding year'. Additionally, the term antaño refers to a time in the distant past rather than specifically the calendar year immediately preceding the current one.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
For formal writing or speech, you can use en el año anterior. In Latin American countries, el año que pasó is an informal way to say 'last year'. The word antaño is a literary or archaic term.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase el año pasado uses the masculine article el because año is a masculine noun.
Did you know?
- The word pasado in el año pasado comes from the Latin passus, which relates to the act of stepping or walking.
- The term antaño is so old-fashioned that using it in a modern conversation might make you sound like a character from a historical novel.
- In some Spanish-speaking regions, using el año recién pasado adds an emphasis on the freshness of the time that has just gone by.
Examples in context
- Me gradué de la universidad el año pasado.I graduated from university last year.
- Nuestros beneficios disminuyeron en el año anterior.Our benefits decreased last year.
- ¿Recuerdas esa fiesta en casa de Juan el año que pasó?Do you remember that party at Juan's house last year?
- Vimos una película muy interesante el año recién pasado.We saw a very interesting movie last year.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “last year” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries antaño, año, el, pasado, precedente, CC BY-SA 4.0.
