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逐年 (zhú nián) — year after year; with each passing year; steadily over the years

Definition

逐年 means change happens year by year, focusing on each successive year (often a trend). Unlike 逐步 (step by step, any progression) or 常年 (lasting all year / for many years), 逐年 tracks year-on-year change.

adverb
year after yearwith each passing yearsteadily over the years

Examples

  • 逐年。
    Gōng sī de lì rùn zhú nián zēng jiā.
    The company's profits increase year after year.
  • 逐年，。
    Kōng qì zhì liàng zhú nián gǎi shàn, jū mín gèng jiā jiàn kāng.
    Air quality improves with each passing year, making residents healthier.
  • 逐年。
    Zhè ge chéng shì de rén kǒu zhú nián jiǎn shǎo.
    The population of this city decreases steadily over the years.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

逐zhúone by one
年niányear

逐 means one by one and 年 means year, giving the sense of year after year.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 辵辵chuòwalking
  • 豕豕shǐpig

逐 joins 辵, shown as walking, with 豕, a pig, to picture someone chasing a pig.

Open 逐 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
禾禾héwheat; grain
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén年nián
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

年 pairs 禾 (grain) with 人, which gives the sound. Its original meaning was harvest, and it later came to mean a year.

Open 年 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6

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