Jerrie and David Sovil of Odessa took an anniversary trip to the UAE the day of the attack on Iran. (Photo via Facebook) For their 34th wedding anniversary, David and Jerrie Sovil took a trip to Dubai ... 'A year' can be any year without any specification.

Understanding the Context

But 'the year' means a particular/specified year or the one which is already mentioned and thereby known. E.g: In a year there are twelve months. (means any year or all years) I was born in the year 2000. (in that particular year) Grammatically 'a/an' is known as indefinite article and 'the' is definite article.

Key Insights

The indefinite article (a/an ... The second and final year gives the impression that you mean one specific year, which was at the same time your second, as well as your final year. For example: In the fifth and last year of the war, the motivation was dwindling. Of course, in your sentence, this interpretation is impossible because you use between, but I did get confused at first. Unless you're talking about Chinese (or Persian) New Year, the name of the celebration isn't New Year but New Year's Eve, and it happens on the last day of the old year.

Final Thoughts

The New Year or New Year - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange I'd say 'across the year' hints strongly at sporadic events etc, whereas 'throughout the year' speaks more of consistent results. But this is opinion, and I doubt I'll easily find supporting evidence I can use to justify an 'answer'. You can check individual examples to see if my suggested rule-of-thumb seems to apply. As (I think) Lambie says, 'across my lifetime / several years' are probably ... In the sentence, The company experienced strong year[-]over[-]year growth., how does the Chicago Manual of Style govern the hyphenation? Part of me believes that it falls under the "phrases, Under the Chicago Manual of Style, does "year over year" need ...