jahrelang

Jahrelang is a German adverb meaning “for many years” or “over a long span of years.” It describes the duration of an action or state and is commonly used with verbs, for example: Ich habe jahrelang in Berlin gelebt. It can also occur in attributive position before a noun in its adjectival form, as in jahrelange Erfahrung (many years of experience) or jahrelanger Streit (years-long dispute).

Etymology and formation: The word is a compound built from Jahr (year) and lang (long). It belongs to a family of time-duration compounds such as monatelang, tagelang, and jahrzehntelang, all written as single words in contemporary German. In attributive use, jahrelang functions like an adjective and inflects according to case and gender (e.g., jahrelange Erfahrung, jahrelanger Kampf).

Grammar and usage: As an adverb, jahrelang modifies verbs to indicate a long duration. When preceding a noun as an attributive adjective, it becomes jahrelange (feminine), jahrelanger (masculine), or jahrelanges (neuter) and agrees with the noun. It emphasizes duration rather than a precise count and often carries connotations of persistence or historical length.

Related terms: Mehrjährig (lasting several years) is a closely related adjective form. For longer spans, jahraenzteilt? No—jahrazehntelang means “over decades.” Other time-duration forms include monatelang (months long), wochenlang (weeks long), and tagelang (days long).