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English is not my native language so I'm having some problems with sentences. I want to wish my sister, who studies abroad a happy birthday by saying something like One year closer to coming home, but I am not sure if that is correct, can someone tell me some similar sentences that have the meaning of One year closer to coming home

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    I think you just need to add a subject: "“You are one year closer to coming home.”
    – user3169
    Jul 12, 2016 at 2:01

2 Answers 2

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It seems you meant to say

  1. You are one year closer to coming home.

This seems fine, but it does not sound like a wish. It is possible that in your native language, 1. has some kind of special implication. However it does not really carry over into English.

If my sister (who speaks English) was studying abroad, and it was one year until her return, then I would say something like

Happy Birthday!

  1. Have a wonderful time before you come back!
  2. I hope you have a great time before you return.
  3. Have a wonderful year in [country name].

These are wishes I might give her while she studied abroad.

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    It does not sound like a wish by itself, but it could be a nice sentiment to convey in a lengthier note.
    – J.R.
    Jul 12, 2016 at 8:37
  • Thanks for pointing that out. I can see how one might think otherwise.
    – Em.
    Jul 12, 2016 at 17:02
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"You are one year closer to home" sounds a little bit unwelcoming, unless you say it in a context such as

Yay! I'm so excited! You're just one year closer to home!

But a better way to say that is something like

There's just a year left till I see you again!

or

Just a year till you come back!

but in another way, to wish that she has a great time wherever she is, you could say

Hope you have a wonderful year there!

or

I hope you have a great time there!

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  • Your sentence "There's just a year left till I see you again!" is the same as "You're one year closer to coming home" only if it's a two-year program, or if only two years remained in the program one year ago. Also, I don't think the original sounds "unwelcoming;" the context you provide is how I'd interpret the remark.
    – J.R.
    Jul 12, 2016 at 8:35
  • Then I apologize if my answer does not suffice what he wants. He did remark in his question "but I am not sure if that is correct, can someone tell me some similar sentences that have the meaning of One year closer to coming home" Jul 12, 2016 at 23:16
  • No need to apologize. But let's say I'm leaving to be on the island for Java for 4 years. Now assume I've been gone for one. So I am "one year closer to coming home," but there are still three years before my family will see me again. So my family wouldn't say to me, "Just a year til you come back!" – not until I had been on the island for three full years. That's not the same as one year closer to coming home.
    – J.R.
    Jul 13, 2016 at 9:15

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