“In what year” or “in which year”. Which one is correct?

Question

You must login to add an answer.

or use

Athar · Answer 1 · 2020-10-01T07:19:37+05:30

In English, both the phrases “in what year” and “in which year” are correct. However their use depends on the situation.

“In which year”

The word which is used for specific thing. e.g. if I have to choose from a number of shoes, I will say, “Which shoes should I wear”.

Similarly, we want to go for a picnic, we will ask, “Which place should we visit”.

Hence the phrase “in which year” can be used when we have to choose from specific number of years. E.g. “in which year America got independence?” or;

“In which year, you got the job?”

We use “what” for general queries. In other words, the word “what” is used when we don’t have something specific in our minds.

E.g. “what are your plans for today”

Hence the phrase “in what year” is used for something which is not specific and the outcome will be from out of all the possible years.

E.g. “in what year Renaissance began?”