German

Jahr: the 29th-Most Reused Word in German

Jahr: Das 29.-häufigste Wort im Deutschen

October 21, 2026

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Jahr ("year", A1) is the 29th-most reused word-building block in this dictionary's compounds, appearing in 16 different words.

94% nouns

Of the 16 compounds built on Jahr, 94% are nouns.

CEFR levels

  • A2 (2 entries): Jahreszeit (season (of the year)), Jahrhundert (century).
  • B1 (4 entries): Frühjahr (spring), Halbjahr (half-year), Jahrmarkt (fair), Jahrtausend (millennium).
  • B2 (7 entries): Jahresbeginn (beginning of the year), Jahresende (end of the year), Jahresgehalt (annual salary), Jahreswechsel (turn of the year), Jahrzehnt (decade), Kalenderjahr (calendar year), jahrelang (for years).
  • C1 (3 entries): Geschäftsjahr (financial year), Jahresabschluss (annual accounts), Jahrgang (year of birth, class year; vintage).

Grouping by meaning, not just difficulty

Looking at the same 16 compounds by what KIND of thing each one names, rather than how hard it is, splits them into 5 groups:

  1. A unit of time larger or smaller than a year5
  2. A point or period within the year5
  3. A financial or business year concept3
  4. Not really about counting years2
  5. An adverb1
  • A unit of time larger or smaller than a year (5): Halbjahr, Jahrhundert, Jahrtausend, Jahrzehnt, Kalenderjahr.
  • A point or period within the year (5): Frühjahr, Jahresbeginn, Jahresende, Jahreswechsel, Jahreszeit.
  • A financial or business year concept (3): Geschäftsjahr, Jahresabschluss, Jahresgehalt.
  • Not really about counting years (2): Jahrgang, Jahrmarkt.
  • An adverb (1): jahrelang.

Jahrmarkt (fair) is the real outlier -- historically a market that opened once a year, the name stuck even though a modern Jahrmarkt has nothing to do with the calendar anymore.

Test yourself: grouping by meaning

Which group does each word belong to?

1 Where does Halbjahr belong?

2 Where does Jahrhundert belong?

3 Where does Jahrtausend belong?

4 Where does Jahrzehnt belong?

5 Where does Kalenderjahr belong?

6 Where does Frühjahr belong?

7 Where does Jahresbeginn belong?

8 Where does Jahresende belong?

9 Where does Jahreswechsel belong?

10 Where does Jahreszeit belong?

11 Where does Geschäftsjahr belong?

12 Where does Jahresabschluss belong?

13 Where does Jahresgehalt belong?

14 Where does Jahrgang belong?

15 Where does Jahrmarkt belong?

16 Where does jahrelang belong?

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