Describe a span of time of 1 or 2 years, without being too literal












4















I'm looking for a word like "sometime ago", "a while ago", that is good for describing a 1-2 years span of time.



I feel like しばらく前 is for shorter spans of time, and is for longer ones. Is there something in the middle I could use here?



I wanna say something like:




I worked for that company sometime ago




Without being literal about how much time it has been since I've worked there




しばらく前、その会社で働きました。











share|improve this question


















  • 2





    Did you consider 以前?

    – Ringil
    10 hours ago











  • @Ringil No, not at all. Actually, I believe that's the first time i'm reading this word.

    – Felipe Oliveira
    10 hours ago






  • 1





    以前 is a great word for this situation!

    – ajsmart
    10 hours ago






  • 1





    Have you eliminated 近年?

    – user27280
    5 hours ago






  • 2





    「[前]{まえ}にその会社で働いてました」とか・・ (1~2年なら「しばらく前に、その会社で働いてました」でもいいと思うけど)

    – Chocolate
    1 hour ago


















4















I'm looking for a word like "sometime ago", "a while ago", that is good for describing a 1-2 years span of time.



I feel like しばらく前 is for shorter spans of time, and is for longer ones. Is there something in the middle I could use here?



I wanna say something like:




I worked for that company sometime ago




Without being literal about how much time it has been since I've worked there




しばらく前、その会社で働きました。











share|improve this question


















  • 2





    Did you consider 以前?

    – Ringil
    10 hours ago











  • @Ringil No, not at all. Actually, I believe that's the first time i'm reading this word.

    – Felipe Oliveira
    10 hours ago






  • 1





    以前 is a great word for this situation!

    – ajsmart
    10 hours ago






  • 1





    Have you eliminated 近年?

    – user27280
    5 hours ago






  • 2





    「[前]{まえ}にその会社で働いてました」とか・・ (1~2年なら「しばらく前に、その会社で働いてました」でもいいと思うけど)

    – Chocolate
    1 hour ago
















4












4








4








I'm looking for a word like "sometime ago", "a while ago", that is good for describing a 1-2 years span of time.



I feel like しばらく前 is for shorter spans of time, and is for longer ones. Is there something in the middle I could use here?



I wanna say something like:




I worked for that company sometime ago




Without being literal about how much time it has been since I've worked there




しばらく前、その会社で働きました。











share|improve this question














I'm looking for a word like "sometime ago", "a while ago", that is good for describing a 1-2 years span of time.



I feel like しばらく前 is for shorter spans of time, and is for longer ones. Is there something in the middle I could use here?



I wanna say something like:




I worked for that company sometime ago




Without being literal about how much time it has been since I've worked there




しばらく前、その会社で働きました。








words






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked 12 hours ago









Felipe OliveiraFelipe Oliveira

1,982719




1,982719








  • 2





    Did you consider 以前?

    – Ringil
    10 hours ago











  • @Ringil No, not at all. Actually, I believe that's the first time i'm reading this word.

    – Felipe Oliveira
    10 hours ago






  • 1





    以前 is a great word for this situation!

    – ajsmart
    10 hours ago






  • 1





    Have you eliminated 近年?

    – user27280
    5 hours ago






  • 2





    「[前]{まえ}にその会社で働いてました」とか・・ (1~2年なら「しばらく前に、その会社で働いてました」でもいいと思うけど)

    – Chocolate
    1 hour ago
















  • 2





    Did you consider 以前?

    – Ringil
    10 hours ago











  • @Ringil No, not at all. Actually, I believe that's the first time i'm reading this word.

    – Felipe Oliveira
    10 hours ago






  • 1





    以前 is a great word for this situation!

    – ajsmart
    10 hours ago






  • 1





    Have you eliminated 近年?

    – user27280
    5 hours ago






  • 2





    「[前]{まえ}にその会社で働いてました」とか・・ (1~2年なら「しばらく前に、その会社で働いてました」でもいいと思うけど)

    – Chocolate
    1 hour ago










2




2





Did you consider 以前?

– Ringil
10 hours ago





Did you consider 以前?

– Ringil
10 hours ago













@Ringil No, not at all. Actually, I believe that's the first time i'm reading this word.

– Felipe Oliveira
10 hours ago





@Ringil No, not at all. Actually, I believe that's the first time i'm reading this word.

– Felipe Oliveira
10 hours ago




1




1





以前 is a great word for this situation!

– ajsmart
10 hours ago





以前 is a great word for this situation!

– ajsmart
10 hours ago




1




1





Have you eliminated 近年?

– user27280
5 hours ago





Have you eliminated 近年?

– user27280
5 hours ago




2




2





「[前]{まえ}にその会社で働いてました」とか・・ (1~2年なら「しばらく前に、その会社で働いてました」でもいいと思うけど)

– Chocolate
1 hour ago







「[前]{まえ}にその会社で働いてました」とか・・ (1~2年なら「しばらく前に、その会社で働いてました」でもいいと思うけど)

– Chocolate
1 hour ago












3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes


















3














以前{いぜん} might be what you're looking for. From デジタル大辞泉




2 今より前の時点。現在から見て近い過去。副詞的にも用いる。「―と違って今では」「―会ったことがある」




Note that some other dictionaries like 大辞林 and 明鏡 think the referred to time is relatively far in the past: 今よりもだいぶ前 for the former and 現在より(かなり)前 for the latter. But I think this word fulfills your requirement for the vagueness of the time pretty well.



Using your example you might say:




以前、その会社で働いていました




I think it'd be fairly close to something like I used to work for that company in English.






share|improve this answer


























  • That's cool, thanks a lot for the answer!!!

    – Felipe Oliveira
    9 hours ago



















2














So in my experience, if we want to describe a couple years without being specific, we would use the following:




何年か{なんねんか}




This seems to be what you are trying to describe, and I am sure that there are other ways to do it, but keeping it simple in this case is probably for the best.



Using the example phrase you provided, I would say the following:




何年か前、その会社で働いていました。




EDIT:
On further though of this answer, I thought that I should make some additional appendages.



何年か is not specific to the number of years, but it is typically implied to be more than 1, maybe 2 years, as the translation could reasonably be a few years ago.



If you're looking for something more specific, you could say 1,2年前, but that is probably more specific than what you are looking for.



If you're specifically trying to be non specific about when it was that you worked there, you can also just say: 前、その会社...



As has been stated in the other answer, 以前 can also work.






share|improve this answer


























  • I see, thanks a lot for the answer! I know this may probably be a different question, but why did you choose 働いていました over 働きました? Is it simply Was working vs worked? Or do you feel there is something else there that makes it more natural?

    – Felipe Oliveira
    11 hours ago






  • 1





    They are both grammatically correct. I see the working as an ongoing past-tense action, so using the ている form felt more natural to me. It might be wise to consider asking this in a separate question though, just to see what others think. jlptsensei.com/learn-japanese-grammar/…

    – ajsmart
    11 hours ago






  • 1





    Admittedly, my instincts have been known to be wrong before, but I think it also feels more natural.

    – ajsmart
    11 hours ago











  • Ok, I’ll try to read a bit about it and if I’m still not sure about it, I might ask another question, thanks a lot!!

    – Felipe Oliveira
    11 hours ago






  • 1





    Here's another answer I wrote about the construct. japanese.stackexchange.com/a/51701/22352

    – ajsmart
    11 hours ago



















2














I think「数年前{すうねんまえ}」is a versatile option.




数年前その会社で働いてたよ」- (colloquial)



数年前だけど、その会社で働いたことあるよ」- (informal)



数年前のことですが、その会社に勤めたことがあります」- (formal-polite)







share|improve this answer
























  • That’s true, it’s like “a few years ago”... I wonder if people use it naturally in that context though, despite being the most logic one from a western standpoint. I’ve seen it used in things like 数メートル先も

    – Felipe Oliveira
    6 mins ago











Your Answer








StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "257"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});

function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});


}
});














draft saved

draft discarded


















StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fjapanese.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f65705%2fdescribe-a-span-of-time-of-1-or-2-years-without-being-too-literal%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);

Post as a guest















Required, but never shown

























3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes








3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes









3














以前{いぜん} might be what you're looking for. From デジタル大辞泉




2 今より前の時点。現在から見て近い過去。副詞的にも用いる。「―と違って今では」「―会ったことがある」




Note that some other dictionaries like 大辞林 and 明鏡 think the referred to time is relatively far in the past: 今よりもだいぶ前 for the former and 現在より(かなり)前 for the latter. But I think this word fulfills your requirement for the vagueness of the time pretty well.



Using your example you might say:




以前、その会社で働いていました




I think it'd be fairly close to something like I used to work for that company in English.






share|improve this answer


























  • That's cool, thanks a lot for the answer!!!

    – Felipe Oliveira
    9 hours ago
















3














以前{いぜん} might be what you're looking for. From デジタル大辞泉




2 今より前の時点。現在から見て近い過去。副詞的にも用いる。「―と違って今では」「―会ったことがある」




Note that some other dictionaries like 大辞林 and 明鏡 think the referred to time is relatively far in the past: 今よりもだいぶ前 for the former and 現在より(かなり)前 for the latter. But I think this word fulfills your requirement for the vagueness of the time pretty well.



Using your example you might say:




以前、その会社で働いていました




I think it'd be fairly close to something like I used to work for that company in English.






share|improve this answer


























  • That's cool, thanks a lot for the answer!!!

    – Felipe Oliveira
    9 hours ago














3












3








3







以前{いぜん} might be what you're looking for. From デジタル大辞泉




2 今より前の時点。現在から見て近い過去。副詞的にも用いる。「―と違って今では」「―会ったことがある」




Note that some other dictionaries like 大辞林 and 明鏡 think the referred to time is relatively far in the past: 今よりもだいぶ前 for the former and 現在より(かなり)前 for the latter. But I think this word fulfills your requirement for the vagueness of the time pretty well.



Using your example you might say:




以前、その会社で働いていました




I think it'd be fairly close to something like I used to work for that company in English.






share|improve this answer















以前{いぜん} might be what you're looking for. From デジタル大辞泉




2 今より前の時点。現在から見て近い過去。副詞的にも用いる。「―と違って今では」「―会ったことがある」




Note that some other dictionaries like 大辞林 and 明鏡 think the referred to time is relatively far in the past: 今よりもだいぶ前 for the former and 現在より(かなり)前 for the latter. But I think this word fulfills your requirement for the vagueness of the time pretty well.



Using your example you might say:




以前、その会社で働いていました




I think it'd be fairly close to something like I used to work for that company in English.







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited 3 mins ago

























answered 9 hours ago









RingilRingil

3,81021133




3,81021133













  • That's cool, thanks a lot for the answer!!!

    – Felipe Oliveira
    9 hours ago



















  • That's cool, thanks a lot for the answer!!!

    – Felipe Oliveira
    9 hours ago

















That's cool, thanks a lot for the answer!!!

– Felipe Oliveira
9 hours ago





That's cool, thanks a lot for the answer!!!

– Felipe Oliveira
9 hours ago











2














So in my experience, if we want to describe a couple years without being specific, we would use the following:




何年か{なんねんか}




This seems to be what you are trying to describe, and I am sure that there are other ways to do it, but keeping it simple in this case is probably for the best.



Using the example phrase you provided, I would say the following:




何年か前、その会社で働いていました。




EDIT:
On further though of this answer, I thought that I should make some additional appendages.



何年か is not specific to the number of years, but it is typically implied to be more than 1, maybe 2 years, as the translation could reasonably be a few years ago.



If you're looking for something more specific, you could say 1,2年前, but that is probably more specific than what you are looking for.



If you're specifically trying to be non specific about when it was that you worked there, you can also just say: 前、その会社...



As has been stated in the other answer, 以前 can also work.






share|improve this answer


























  • I see, thanks a lot for the answer! I know this may probably be a different question, but why did you choose 働いていました over 働きました? Is it simply Was working vs worked? Or do you feel there is something else there that makes it more natural?

    – Felipe Oliveira
    11 hours ago






  • 1





    They are both grammatically correct. I see the working as an ongoing past-tense action, so using the ている form felt more natural to me. It might be wise to consider asking this in a separate question though, just to see what others think. jlptsensei.com/learn-japanese-grammar/…

    – ajsmart
    11 hours ago






  • 1





    Admittedly, my instincts have been known to be wrong before, but I think it also feels more natural.

    – ajsmart
    11 hours ago











  • Ok, I’ll try to read a bit about it and if I’m still not sure about it, I might ask another question, thanks a lot!!

    – Felipe Oliveira
    11 hours ago






  • 1





    Here's another answer I wrote about the construct. japanese.stackexchange.com/a/51701/22352

    – ajsmart
    11 hours ago
















2














So in my experience, if we want to describe a couple years without being specific, we would use the following:




何年か{なんねんか}




This seems to be what you are trying to describe, and I am sure that there are other ways to do it, but keeping it simple in this case is probably for the best.



Using the example phrase you provided, I would say the following:




何年か前、その会社で働いていました。




EDIT:
On further though of this answer, I thought that I should make some additional appendages.



何年か is not specific to the number of years, but it is typically implied to be more than 1, maybe 2 years, as the translation could reasonably be a few years ago.



If you're looking for something more specific, you could say 1,2年前, but that is probably more specific than what you are looking for.



If you're specifically trying to be non specific about when it was that you worked there, you can also just say: 前、その会社...



As has been stated in the other answer, 以前 can also work.






share|improve this answer


























  • I see, thanks a lot for the answer! I know this may probably be a different question, but why did you choose 働いていました over 働きました? Is it simply Was working vs worked? Or do you feel there is something else there that makes it more natural?

    – Felipe Oliveira
    11 hours ago






  • 1





    They are both grammatically correct. I see the working as an ongoing past-tense action, so using the ている form felt more natural to me. It might be wise to consider asking this in a separate question though, just to see what others think. jlptsensei.com/learn-japanese-grammar/…

    – ajsmart
    11 hours ago






  • 1





    Admittedly, my instincts have been known to be wrong before, but I think it also feels more natural.

    – ajsmart
    11 hours ago











  • Ok, I’ll try to read a bit about it and if I’m still not sure about it, I might ask another question, thanks a lot!!

    – Felipe Oliveira
    11 hours ago






  • 1





    Here's another answer I wrote about the construct. japanese.stackexchange.com/a/51701/22352

    – ajsmart
    11 hours ago














2












2








2







So in my experience, if we want to describe a couple years without being specific, we would use the following:




何年か{なんねんか}




This seems to be what you are trying to describe, and I am sure that there are other ways to do it, but keeping it simple in this case is probably for the best.



Using the example phrase you provided, I would say the following:




何年か前、その会社で働いていました。




EDIT:
On further though of this answer, I thought that I should make some additional appendages.



何年か is not specific to the number of years, but it is typically implied to be more than 1, maybe 2 years, as the translation could reasonably be a few years ago.



If you're looking for something more specific, you could say 1,2年前, but that is probably more specific than what you are looking for.



If you're specifically trying to be non specific about when it was that you worked there, you can also just say: 前、その会社...



As has been stated in the other answer, 以前 can also work.






share|improve this answer















So in my experience, if we want to describe a couple years without being specific, we would use the following:




何年か{なんねんか}




This seems to be what you are trying to describe, and I am sure that there are other ways to do it, but keeping it simple in this case is probably for the best.



Using the example phrase you provided, I would say the following:




何年か前、その会社で働いていました。




EDIT:
On further though of this answer, I thought that I should make some additional appendages.



何年か is not specific to the number of years, but it is typically implied to be more than 1, maybe 2 years, as the translation could reasonably be a few years ago.



If you're looking for something more specific, you could say 1,2年前, but that is probably more specific than what you are looking for.



If you're specifically trying to be non specific about when it was that you worked there, you can also just say: 前、その会社...



As has been stated in the other answer, 以前 can also work.







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited 9 hours ago

























answered 12 hours ago









ajsmartajsmart

4,19121237




4,19121237













  • I see, thanks a lot for the answer! I know this may probably be a different question, but why did you choose 働いていました over 働きました? Is it simply Was working vs worked? Or do you feel there is something else there that makes it more natural?

    – Felipe Oliveira
    11 hours ago






  • 1





    They are both grammatically correct. I see the working as an ongoing past-tense action, so using the ている form felt more natural to me. It might be wise to consider asking this in a separate question though, just to see what others think. jlptsensei.com/learn-japanese-grammar/…

    – ajsmart
    11 hours ago






  • 1





    Admittedly, my instincts have been known to be wrong before, but I think it also feels more natural.

    – ajsmart
    11 hours ago











  • Ok, I’ll try to read a bit about it and if I’m still not sure about it, I might ask another question, thanks a lot!!

    – Felipe Oliveira
    11 hours ago






  • 1





    Here's another answer I wrote about the construct. japanese.stackexchange.com/a/51701/22352

    – ajsmart
    11 hours ago



















  • I see, thanks a lot for the answer! I know this may probably be a different question, but why did you choose 働いていました over 働きました? Is it simply Was working vs worked? Or do you feel there is something else there that makes it more natural?

    – Felipe Oliveira
    11 hours ago






  • 1





    They are both grammatically correct. I see the working as an ongoing past-tense action, so using the ている form felt more natural to me. It might be wise to consider asking this in a separate question though, just to see what others think. jlptsensei.com/learn-japanese-grammar/…

    – ajsmart
    11 hours ago






  • 1





    Admittedly, my instincts have been known to be wrong before, but I think it also feels more natural.

    – ajsmart
    11 hours ago











  • Ok, I’ll try to read a bit about it and if I’m still not sure about it, I might ask another question, thanks a lot!!

    – Felipe Oliveira
    11 hours ago






  • 1





    Here's another answer I wrote about the construct. japanese.stackexchange.com/a/51701/22352

    – ajsmart
    11 hours ago

















I see, thanks a lot for the answer! I know this may probably be a different question, but why did you choose 働いていました over 働きました? Is it simply Was working vs worked? Or do you feel there is something else there that makes it more natural?

– Felipe Oliveira
11 hours ago





I see, thanks a lot for the answer! I know this may probably be a different question, but why did you choose 働いていました over 働きました? Is it simply Was working vs worked? Or do you feel there is something else there that makes it more natural?

– Felipe Oliveira
11 hours ago




1




1





They are both grammatically correct. I see the working as an ongoing past-tense action, so using the ている form felt more natural to me. It might be wise to consider asking this in a separate question though, just to see what others think. jlptsensei.com/learn-japanese-grammar/…

– ajsmart
11 hours ago





They are both grammatically correct. I see the working as an ongoing past-tense action, so using the ている form felt more natural to me. It might be wise to consider asking this in a separate question though, just to see what others think. jlptsensei.com/learn-japanese-grammar/…

– ajsmart
11 hours ago




1




1





Admittedly, my instincts have been known to be wrong before, but I think it also feels more natural.

– ajsmart
11 hours ago





Admittedly, my instincts have been known to be wrong before, but I think it also feels more natural.

– ajsmart
11 hours ago













Ok, I’ll try to read a bit about it and if I’m still not sure about it, I might ask another question, thanks a lot!!

– Felipe Oliveira
11 hours ago





Ok, I’ll try to read a bit about it and if I’m still not sure about it, I might ask another question, thanks a lot!!

– Felipe Oliveira
11 hours ago




1




1





Here's another answer I wrote about the construct. japanese.stackexchange.com/a/51701/22352

– ajsmart
11 hours ago





Here's another answer I wrote about the construct. japanese.stackexchange.com/a/51701/22352

– ajsmart
11 hours ago











2














I think「数年前{すうねんまえ}」is a versatile option.




数年前その会社で働いてたよ」- (colloquial)



数年前だけど、その会社で働いたことあるよ」- (informal)



数年前のことですが、その会社に勤めたことがあります」- (formal-polite)







share|improve this answer
























  • That’s true, it’s like “a few years ago”... I wonder if people use it naturally in that context though, despite being the most logic one from a western standpoint. I’ve seen it used in things like 数メートル先も

    – Felipe Oliveira
    6 mins ago
















2














I think「数年前{すうねんまえ}」is a versatile option.




数年前その会社で働いてたよ」- (colloquial)



数年前だけど、その会社で働いたことあるよ」- (informal)



数年前のことですが、その会社に勤めたことがあります」- (formal-polite)







share|improve this answer
























  • That’s true, it’s like “a few years ago”... I wonder if people use it naturally in that context though, despite being the most logic one from a western standpoint. I’ve seen it used in things like 数メートル先も

    – Felipe Oliveira
    6 mins ago














2












2








2







I think「数年前{すうねんまえ}」is a versatile option.




数年前その会社で働いてたよ」- (colloquial)



数年前だけど、その会社で働いたことあるよ」- (informal)



数年前のことですが、その会社に勤めたことがあります」- (formal-polite)







share|improve this answer













I think「数年前{すうねんまえ}」is a versatile option.




数年前その会社で働いてたよ」- (colloquial)



数年前だけど、その会社で働いたことあるよ」- (informal)



数年前のことですが、その会社に勤めたことがあります」- (formal-polite)








share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered 52 mins ago









sazarandosazarando

5,495720




5,495720













  • That’s true, it’s like “a few years ago”... I wonder if people use it naturally in that context though, despite being the most logic one from a western standpoint. I’ve seen it used in things like 数メートル先も

    – Felipe Oliveira
    6 mins ago



















  • That’s true, it’s like “a few years ago”... I wonder if people use it naturally in that context though, despite being the most logic one from a western standpoint. I’ve seen it used in things like 数メートル先も

    – Felipe Oliveira
    6 mins ago

















That’s true, it’s like “a few years ago”... I wonder if people use it naturally in that context though, despite being the most logic one from a western standpoint. I’ve seen it used in things like 数メートル先も

– Felipe Oliveira
6 mins ago





That’s true, it’s like “a few years ago”... I wonder if people use it naturally in that context though, despite being the most logic one from a western standpoint. I’ve seen it used in things like 数メートル先も

– Felipe Oliveira
6 mins ago


















draft saved

draft discarded




















































Thanks for contributing an answer to Japanese Language Stack Exchange!


  • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

But avoid



  • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

  • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




draft saved


draft discarded














StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fjapanese.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f65705%2fdescribe-a-span-of-time-of-1-or-2-years-without-being-too-literal%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);

Post as a guest















Required, but never shown





















































Required, but never shown














Required, but never shown












Required, but never shown







Required, but never shown

































Required, but never shown














Required, but never shown












Required, but never shown







Required, but never shown







Popular posts from this blog

Ponta tanko

Tantalo (mitologio)

Erzsébet Schaár