how to use 年をめどに

Question

i just learned this grammar from Nikkei News: `

2021年度をメドに

mean an action target time is within 2021. Some site use:

2021年をめどに

so what is different of them? if i want say: target in 09/2021, how i can say?

and i want to say: i will complete that within 2 year, how i can say?

Answer 1

First of all, there is an important difference between 「2021年{ねん}」 and 「2021年度{ねんど}」.

「2021年」 refers to the calendar year, January 2021 through December 2021.

「2021年度」 refers to the fiscal/business year, April 2021 through March 2022 (for most organizations).

In other words, those two terms refer to two different 12-month periods. You will need to be aware of the difference for as long as you study Japanese.

Moving on to 「めど」.

「めど」 roughly means "aim", "goal", "outlook", etc. in planning and executing activities. "Target deadline" may be the better term this time.

if i want say: target in 09/2021, how i can say?

You could say:

「2021年9月 + を + めど + に + Verb Phrase」

The two particles, を and に, are important and are not replacable by others.

and i want to say: i will complete that within 2 year, how i can say?

You could say:

「2年{ねん}をめどに（完了{かんりょう}する/仕上{しあ}げる）予定{よてい}です。」