How to do it correctly: years or years

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

You can say this and that. But there is a nuance.

The Russian spelling dictionary is acceptable: the year is both years and years. However, in some cases, the use of one form or another of the noun depends on the context.

A strict limitation is imposed by Gramota.ru, word check: year only for the use of the word in combination with ordinal numbers or for designating a specific period of time: 1941–1945, project for 2019–2020, data for 1990–1995, nineties of the twentieth century …

By the way, when specifying the time period (from such and such to such and such a year), the word is used Gramota.ru: question No. 235844 in the singular: from 1941 to 1945. The same rule applies to centuries: from the 19th to the 20th centuries.

When designating an indefinite period of time, the norm is variable, but the form with the ending "y" and the emphasis on the base is still more popular: school years, military years. It so happened that the noun "year" and its derivatives in the Russian language, that it is her native speakers who use it more often, so it seems more familiar. For example, the phrase war years can be gratifying, but from the point of view of the literary language, it is permissible.

The same applies to situations when it comes to age: both old years and old years speak. But the first option is still preferable because of its frequency. In this case, the form of the year can be included in the well-established, but often outdated Phraseological dictionary of the Russian literary language: to enter the years of expression, for example, to enter the years (to become an adult).