past year

USAGE SUMMARY

"past year" is correct and usable in written English
You can use it to refer to the year that has just ended, for example, "The real estate market has seen a drastic decline over the past year."

✓ Grammatically correct

News & Media

Formal & Business

Academia

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

60 human-written examples

Trials of this idea are currently under way, one of which should report next year.

The Economist

Last year, during David Cameron's trip to Beijing, the same paper announced that Britain was "just an old European country apt [that is, suitable] for travel and study".

The Guardian - Opinion

"They gave me their word a year ago and now I want them to honour that.

The Guardian - Sport

According to the Campaign for Better Transport (CBT), the cost of a Milton Keynes season ticket has risen 23.5%, or £930, since January 2010 and is one of a number of fares that have increased around four times more than average wages over this five-year period.

The Guardian

As a result, the country lost a further 21 positions in the policy evaluation compared to last year, thus replacing Canada as the worst-performing industrial country".

The Guardian

But this year is different.

The New York Times

Specifically, the Nasdaq excludes anyone who was employed the company in the past three years.

The New York Times

It said that if automatic spending cuts go into force and all the Bush-era tax cuts expire, the nation would slip into recession next year and unemployment would rise to 9.1 percent, from October's rate of 7.9 percent.

The New York Times

Over the past decade, Kazakhs have experienced a steady reduction in individual rights.

The Guardian

The order book was down slightly at £3.6bn from the last update in June but well ahead of the £3.3bn reported this time last year.

The Guardian - Business

We are currently in the process of interviewing potential board members, and our goal is to add an additional independent member this year in order to regain our 4-star rating by 2013.

The Guardian

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

Use the definite article 'the' before "past year" to maintain grammatical accuracy in most sentence structures.

Common error

Avoid using "past year" when you specifically mean a fixed calendar block like 2025; instead, use "last year" to prevent ambiguity regarding whether you mean the previous January-to-December cycle or the most recent 12 months.

Linguistic Context

Grammatically, "past year" functions as a noun phrase that frequently serves as an adverbial of time. In the examples analyzed by Ludwig, it often follows prepositions like "over", "during" or "in" to denote a specific duration of time leading up to the present moment.

Expression frequency: Very common

Frequent in

News & Media

78%

Formal & Business

12%

Academia

10%

Less common in

Science

5%

Wiki

3%

Social Media

2%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

The phrase "past year" is a grammatically correct and highly versatile temporal marker. According to Ludwig AI, it is most effectively used to describe a rolling 12-month period, distinguishing it from "last year", which typically denotes a specific calendar year. High-authority sources like The Economist and The New York Times frequently employ it to contextualize trends in business and politics. When using "past year", writers should ensure that the context supports a rolling duration rather than a fixed calendar block to maintain clarity and precision in their narrative. For even greater technical accuracy, alternatives like "past twelve months" may be substituted.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

past twelve months

emphasizes the continuity of the rolling period day-by-day

previous twelve months

a more formal stylistic variation of the rolling period

last 12 months

numerical style common in casual or data-heavy contexts

preceding twelve-month period

provides technical precision for contracts or legal documents

previous year

used more often in formal business reports or comparative studies

prior year

standard terminology in accounting and financial comparisons

preceding year

used in legal or highly structured formal writing

last year

refers to the preceding calendar period rather than a rolling 12 months

year gone by

carries a more narrative or slightly literary tone

recent year

suggests a more general, less bounded timeframe in the near past

FAQs

What is the difference between "past year" and "last year"?

While "last year" typically refers to the previous calendar year, "past year" refers to the rolling 365-day period preceding the current date.

How do I use "past year" in a professional sentence?

In professional writing, you can use it with prepositions such as "The company has seen record growth "over the past year"" to denote a continuous trend.

Can I say "past twelve months" instead of "past year"?

Yes, using "past twelve months" is a perfect alternative that is often preferred in technical or financial reports for added clarity.

Should I use "past year" or "previous year"?

Use "past year" for rolling periods ending now and "previous year" when comparing a specific past year to another fixed timeframe.