Years in English
A1 · BeginnerEnglish BasicsLearn common ways to say years in English, from 1900 to the present.
What you'll learn
- How years before 2000 are read
- How years 2000–2009 are read
- How modern years like 2026 are read
- How to use "in" with years
Years before 2000
Most four-digit years before 2000 are read as two pairs of two digits.
1492 → fourteen ninety-two
1984 → nineteen eighty-four
1999 → nineteen ninety-nine
1900 → nineteen hundred
1908 → nineteen oh eight
"Oh" is commonly used for a zero inside many year readings, as in 1908 → nineteen oh eight.
2000–2009
2000 → two thousand
2001 → two thousand one / two thousand and one
2003 → two thousand three / two thousand and three
2009 → two thousand nine / two thousand and nine
Both forms are common. Forms with "and" are also standard, especially in British English. For 2009, you may also hear the informal "twenty oh nine".
2010 and later
2012 → twenty twelve / two thousand twelve
2026 → twenty twenty-six / two thousand twenty-six
We use "twenty twenty-six" as the primary modern example. Preferences vary by speaker and English variety — both patterns are heard.
Century years
Don't generalize "twenty hundred" as the standard reading of 2000 — it isn't.
Using "in"
"I was born in 1995."
"The building opened in 2010."
Use "in" when saying when something happens: "I was born in 1995." We don't need "in" when the year is simply a label, like on a timeline card: "2026 — new office opens."
Real life
Birth years, graduation years, historical events, product years — years come up all the time.
"What year were you born?"
"I was born in nineteen ninety-five."
"When did you move here?"
"In twenty twenty-four."
Practice
Exercise 1 · Match the year to its reading
0 / 4 matched
Exercise 2 · Choose the correct preposition
I was born ___ 1990.
Exercise 3 · How is it read?
How is 1492 usually read?
Exercise 4 · Century year
How is 1800 read as a century year?
Exercise 5 · Choose a correct reading
Which reading of 2009 is acceptable?
Exercise 6 · Match years from different eras
0 / 4 matched
Exercise 7 · Don't mix up the century
Which of these readings is 2000, not 1900?
Exercise 8 · Years in different contexts
“I graduated in 2022.” How is 2022 read here?
“This is a 2019 model.” How is 2019 read here?
“The museum opened in 1987.” How is 1987 read here?
Quick challenge
Five quick questions to check what stuck.
Question 1 / 5
Score: 0/0
How do we usually read 1999?
You learned
- Many four-digit years are commonly read in two pairs.
- 1908 can be read "nineteen oh eight".
- 2000 is "two thousand".
- Modern years such as 2026 are commonly "twenty twenty-six".
- Use "in" with years.