over the last few years vs over the last years

The phrase 'over the last few years' is correct, while 'over the last years' is incorrect. The addition of 'few' in the first phrase is necessary to indicate a specific, limited time period. Omitting 'few' in the second phrase makes it grammatically incorrect.

Last updated: April 13, 2024 • 204 views

over the last few years

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English to refer to a specific, limited time period in the recent past.

This phrase is used to indicate a period of time that is not very long, typically within the recent past. It is often used in discussions about trends, changes, or developments.

Examples:

Over the last few years, technology has advanced rapidly.
I have seen a lot of progress in this field over the last few years.
Over the last few years, the company has grown significantly.
The economy has been unstable over the last few years.
Over the last few years, there has been a noticeable shift in consumer behavior.

Show examples from the web [+]

9415 likes, 38 comments - Marcus Armstrong (@marcusarmstrong) on Instagram on July 6, 2022: "Good memories from Austria over the last few years "
Jan 19, 2016 ... Again, over the last few years there has been an increase in the number of seizures as well as the THC concentration, reaching over 50% THC ...
Find 57 synonyms for "over the last few years" and other similar words that you can use instead from our thesaurus.
SLIDESHOW: Photos of Missoula over the last few years. by NBC Montana Staff. Wed, February 8th 2023, 8:53 AM PST. UserWay icon for accessibility widget.
Mar 9, 2020 ... As you know, over the last few years, several high cost drugs have been introduced to the market. Due to field size limitations on existing ...
May 15, 2023 ... Previously, breast cancer survival was low in the Faroes but has improved to a comparable level over the last few years.

over the last years

This phrase is incorrect in English. It lacks the word 'few,' which is necessary to specify a limited time period.

Show examples from the web [+]

Osteoarticular infections in young children: what has changed over the last years? Swiss Med Wkly. 2014 Jun 12;144:w13971. doi: 10.4414/smw.2014.13971.
They are reported in this online publication – Our World in Data – that my team and I have been building over the last years. We see it as a resource to ...
May 6, 2021 ... Specifically, some evidence indicates that sperm quality has decreased over the last years. However, reports showing the changes in sperm ...
Jun 1, 2014 ... Osteoarticular infections in young children: what has changed over the last years? Dimitri Ceroni; Georgios Kampouroglou ...
Nov 15, 2018 ... ... of liver failure and the influence of MARS on cytokine plasmatic profiles have not yet been fully elucidated over the last years.
Several large-scale synthesis efforts over the last years, mostly for Holocene peatlands, have allowed one to document peatland development histories, ...
Digital convergence over the last years has implemented several positive and negative aspects in the media. This scenario brings new challenges for ...
May 17, 2022 ... ... this work presents a good epidemiological synthesis of the state of suicide and suicide attempts in France over the last years.

Alternatives:

over the past few years
over the last several years
over the recent years
over the past years
over the previous years

What Our Customers Are Saying

Our customers love us! We have an average rating of 4.79 stars based on 283,125 votes.
Also check out our 2,100+ reviews on TrustPilot (4.9).

"Amazing! I like that the editors are REAL people and not A.I., like some use. The editors actually see clients as real people and not just apart of their job, and it shows. 💖"
moggie April 2025
"TextRanch has been a great help to me, especially at work because I often email my boss."
Jhey April 2025
"Thank you!"
Sachi Nakama July 2024
"I have literally been through chat, PI, claude, bard and bing and I got conflicting answers! Thank you! Human intelligence reigns!"
Retha July 2024
"Faster than AI"
CYNTHIA December 2023
"This was very helpful and I personally think this site is the best."
Kaden October 2023
"It was extremely thorough and very helpful!"
imperialelisa October 2023
"7 years without any disappointment. Always 100% satisfied. You guys are the best in the world at what you do. Thank you so much :)"
Zubair Alam October 2023
"In a world of text messages and online communication, this is great to have as a live tool. Thank you."
Selena October 2023
"Without textranch I would be stuck!"
宏祐 October 2023
"Accuracy and fast response. Personal comments from editor. Thank you."
Clh September 2023
"I wasn't aware of this service, it's fascinating and more reliable than standard IA tools available on the internet"
Arturo September 2023
"The fact that you can get reliable fast feedback on your texts."
Vinicius Antonio August 2023
"you guys are better than grammarly i'm being honest here"
ordinary July 2023
"OMG! This is really good than any other text correction tools I've used so far. Highly recommend this."
Vehan July 2023
"Very fast and accurate. thank you."
mojtaba July 2023
"I love this app because it's help to writing skills all of students ♥️"
Tarisini July 2023
"This was exactly the mistake I was looking for, the wording dind´t sound right at first. Better than grammarly!"
Ente July 2023
"The immediate help that I received was reassuring and very satisfactory. Thanks."
priiiyanshuu July 2023
"this helps A LOT for my studies."
kathnunez02 June 2023
"Woow!! I would never have expected such precision! Thank you soooo much!!"
Berta June 2023
"Real Time Editor and not AI. Many Thanks."
Priya June 2023
"The very first thing excites me about Textranch is how much your editors care."
sepideh June 2023
"The fact that texts are checked by human editors rather than by AI, etc. I appreciate this!"
Анна June 2023