For Many Years to Come – Meaning & Example Sentences

Have you ever heard someone use the phrase “For Many Years to Come”, and wondered what it meant?

We want to take some time to look into this expression and understand what it means and what’s the best way to apply it to our daily conversations.

For Many Years to Come – Meaning

“For Many Years to Come” is a way of saying the subject of the sentence will continue or go on for a long time, in the future. It intends to indicate that something is expected to last for a long time, without being too specific about it.

In other words, it’s not supposed to be scientific information or to reflect something the author of the sentence is completely sure about. It’s closer to wishful thinking about what the future holds, a hope that things will continue as anticipated.

Take a look at some examples that will help clarify this concept:

• The newlyweds hope to be together for many years to come.
• How we respond to the challenges we face now will affect our lives for many years to come.

How to Use “For Many Years to Come” in a Sentence

“For Many Years to Come” should be used to indicate that the fact presented in the sentence – good or bad – is expected to last or continue for a long time. The phrase can be used at the beginning or the end of the sentence.

However, it seems to be more common at the end, as a conclusion to the point being made. Also, keep in mind that because the phrase talks about “Years to Come” it always reflects an expectation toward the future, never the past.

Take a look at some helpful examples below:

1. I think Lina will continue to work with us for many years to come if we allow her to grow in her career.
2. Claude’s work as a researcher will continue to be relevant for many years to come.
3. I’ve been sharing some music with my son, and I think he’ll be impacted by it for many years to come.
4. Hank hopes to continue his journey for many years to come after he recovers from surgery.
5. Your laptop is fixed, and I think it’ll continue to work for many years to come.

Variations of “For Many Years to Come”

As with any known set phrase in the English language, the expression “For Many Years to Come” can appear with some variations, small changes in form that don’t affect its meaning.

Those are some of the variations you may encounter:

• For multiple years to come
• For many decades to come
• Generations to come
• For years to come
• Many times to come

For Many Years to Come – Synonyms

People may think that “For Many Years to Come” is too poetic or cliche. They may be uncomfortable using it and prefer to use a different phrase. If you think you’d rather have more options, here are some suggestions:

• For the future
• For the foreseeable future
• Later generations
• For a  long while
• Years ahead
• For the ages

When expressing your expectations for the future, or what you anticipate will happen, just make sure you choose a phrase that reflects the length of time that you intend to indicate.

How Popular is “For Many Years to Come”?

How popular is the phrase “For Many Years to Come”? Take a look at the graph from Google Ngram Viewer below to find out.

“For Many Years to Come” isn’t as popular now as it used to be decades ago. This phrase peaked in popularity around 1920 and, since then, has experienced a slow but constant decline.

Currently, it seems to be the least popular it’s ever been. We believe it indicates that people are choosing different forms to express their expectations toward the future. However, we must keep in mind that “For Many Years to Come” is correct and can be used if we choose to.

Final Thoughts

“For Many Years to Come” is an expression that indicates the expectations of the speaker. It reflects that they expect the fact or event described in the sentence to last or continue for a long time. It isn’t as popular now as it was before, but it’s grammatically correct.