Date
Reading the year from a date
Definition
Reading the year out of a date means giving YEAR the cell that holds the date.
Syntax
=YEAR(serial_number)
Arguments
| Argument | Meaning |
|---|---|
serial_number |
The cell that holds the date whose year you want. |
Worked example
A hire list stores start dates in B2:B4.
| A: Staff | B: Hired |
|---|---|
| Nia | 8 Jun 2008 |
| Omar | 14 Jan 2015 |
| Pia | 3 Sep 2021 |
Formula: =YEAR(B2)
Result: 2008. The date 8 June 2008 stores the year 2008.
Practice
Cell A2 holds the date 11 November 2019. In B2, write a formula that returns the year of that date.
- In B2, write a YEAR formula for A2.
- B2 should show the year of A2.
Step 1 of 2
Enter =YEAR(A2) in B2.
A2 is 11 November 2019, so the year is 2019.
Formulas here use English function names, such as SUM, and a period as the decimal separator, in every language.
Loading the sheet…
B2 uses YEAR.
B2 now shows 2019.
The next lesson is Averaging numbers in one group.
Related functions
YEAR is the function that reads the four-digit year from the date.
Common mistake
Pointing YEAR at the name column, as in =YEAR(A2): Nia is text, so the formula returns an error instead of 2008.