annual
annual — adjective
1. taking place one time each year, usually on a regular schedule.
taking place one time each year, usually on a regular schedule.
Our village holds an annual flower festival every May.
annual + event noun (festival)
The school's annual sports day attracts hundreds of parents.
annual + recurring event
Zane dreads his annual visit to the dentist.
The company holds an annual meeting in March to review results.
Each summer the museum hosts an annual writing contest for teenagers.
- yearly
near-identical meaning, slightly more everyday
- once-a-year
informal, hyphenated when before a noun
文法句型
annual + noun
用法筆記
Almost always sits directly before the noun it describes; rarely used after a linking verb. Distinguish from sense 2: sense 1 stresses the once-a-year rhythm of an event, while sense 2 covers totals or figures spanning a whole year.
常見錯誤
2. measured across or covering a full twelve-month period, often used with totals s
measured across or covering a full twelve-month period, often used with totals such as income, costs, or rainfall.
Kenji's annual salary as a junior nurse is about thirty-six thousand pounds.
annual salary (yearly total)
Kenya's annual rainfall has dropped sharply over the last decade, worrying local farmers.
annual rainfall (yearly amount)
My uncle's bakery must file an annual tax return by the end of January.
Citlali's annual budget for travel is just under two thousand dollars.
The Toyota factory in Nagoya saw its annual output reach a record high last year.
文法句型
annual + noun (figure or period)
用法筆記
Subject is usually a measurable total: salary, income, rainfall, output, budget, fee. Distinguish from sense 1: 'an annual concert' (event repeated yearly) vs 'annual concert revenue' (money summed over a year).
常見錯誤
3. describing a plant that grows from seed, flowers, sets new seed, and dies all wi
describing a plant that grows from seed, flowers, sets new seed, and dies all within a single year or growing season.
Sunflowers are annual plants that finish their whole cycle by autumn.
annual plants (botany sense)
Renata filled the garden bed with cheap annual flowers from the market.
annual flowers (botany)
Most vegetables in our school garden are annual crops, replanted every spring.
Many wild poppies are annual species and need fresh seed each year.
- one-season
informal description of the same life cycle
文法句型
annual + plant noun
用法筆記
Mainly used in gardening and biology; contrasts with 'perennial' (lives for many years) and 'biennial' (two-year cycle). Common before nouns like plant, flower, crop, species, weed.
常見錯誤
annual — noun
1. a magazine or hardback book that is brought out only once a year, often aimed at
a magazine or hardback book that is brought out only once a year, often aimed at children, keeping the same title each time but with fresh stories or articles inside.
Every Christmas, my niece asks for the latest football annual.
noun phrase: football annual
The bookshop window was full of bright cartoon annuals for the holidays.
plural form: annuals on sale
Kofi still keeps a shelf of Beano annuals he was given each Christmas as a boy.
The publisher releases a popular gardening annual each November.
文法句型
a + annual
用法筆記
Usually appears with a topic word in front: football annual, cartoon annual, gardening annual. Most common in British English and especially around the Christmas gift season.
常見錯誤
2. a book published once a year that records the students, staff, events, and achie
a book published once a year that records the students, staff, events, and achievements of a school or organisation during that year.
Tom flipped through his old high-school annual and laughed at his haircut.
school annual (= yearbook)
Every senior at Lincoln High signs the class annual before graduation.
class annual ritual
The Lincoln High library keeps every class annual on a long oak shelf, starting from 1962.
Maria found her grandmother's photo in the 1955 college annual.
- yearbook
the standard American word; 'annual' is a slightly older synonym
文法句型
a + annual
用法筆記
More common in American English than sense 1, and almost always tied to a school or college. Distinguish from sense 1: a 'football annual' is a commercial publication; a 'school annual' records one institution's year.
常見錯誤
3. a single plant of a one-season type, especially one bought or grown for a garden
a single plant of a one-season type, especially one bought or grown for a garden display, that must be replanted from seed each year.
Marigolds and zinnias are annuals that brighten the border each summer.
list of annuals (named plants)
Mrs Patel plants new annuals along her front path every April.
plural noun: annuals replanted yearly
Many annuals drop thousands of seeds before the first frost arrives.
Garden centres sell trays of cheerful annuals from late spring onwards.
- annual plant
fuller form, used when context is unclear
文法句型
a + annual
用法筆記
Often appears in plural ('annuals') in gardening contexts. Contrast with 'perennials' (multi-year plants) and 'biennials' (two-year plants); these three labels group plants by life span.