～年
～ねん · ～nen · JLPT N5 · noun
old age
📅 年 (nen) = year counter: number + nen, so 三年 (san-nen) = three years
年 is the kanji for year; read nen when it follows a number. Sound hook: nen is the first syllable of the English word annual run backwards in spirit — a-NEN-ual. Stick it after any number: 一年 ichi-nen, 十年 jū-nen.
年 — grain 禾 over person 人 (oracle bone)
Originally a pictograph of a person carrying a bundle of harvested grain on their back, representing the yearly grain harvest. Because harvests came once a year, the character shifted from meaning 'harvest' to meaning 'year.' The modern form 年 obscures the original 禾 (grain) + 人 (person) structure.