seems like almost everybody's got the bug: "2025" or "in 2025" Which sentence is correct? - (I came to Germany in 2015.) a) Ich bin 2015 nach Deutschland gekommen. b) Ich bin in 2015 nach Deutschland gekommen. Now, if you picked b, you've got the bug. And the Germans have it, too. I've heard in many different places - TV, radio and even language learning videos - from native speakers. We can track this to the omnipresence of the English language and - no surprise - when there are different languages present, they will mix and create something of their own. And, my guess is that that is what happened here. The little preposition sneaked into the German sentence where it does not belong and got stuck by repetition from many different speakers, including natives... In German, we don't use a preposition with the year. It's simply the number. Ich bin 2015 nach Deutschland gekommen. There is, however, a case where we do use the preposition. And that is when we say: Ich bin im Jahr 2015 nach Deutschland gekommen. But honestly, it sounds a bit off. A bit like talking about history. Im Jahr 1347 erreichte the Pest Deutschland. (In the year 1347, the plague reached Germany.) So, here is a challenge. See, if you can detect yourself and others making this mistake. And as for yourself, well, I hope you'll master it - if you've got "this bug". • Pay attention to what you hear & what you say when it comes to the years. • When you catch yourself - don't get frustrated! Rather feel good for having noticed it! After all, what could be harder than catching oneself? All the next times, you have a chance of getting it right, by consciously pausing a second before speaking and you'll get rid of the bug eventually.