转眼之间年就要过完了，都快十五了，我们已经送走了狗年，迎来猪年。
“猪年”的猪怎么说呢？先来看看具有“猪”含义的单词有哪些？
pig最常用，相对比较口语化，也泛指一切猪。
swine一般用在专有名词以及文学作品中，比如医学名词“猪流感”，不是pig flu而是swine flu；另外，著名的英文成语cast pearl before swine里，用的也是swine。这句话的字面意思是“把珍珠丢在猪的面前”，比喻“明珠暗投”。
boar一般表示“野猪”，也可以指家养的“公猪”。有公猪就有母猪，sow指“母猪”，该词还可以做动词表示“播种”。
hog指“供食用的大猪”，一般这种猪养着就是为了杀掉吃肉。被屠宰前，hog尽可能地吃、睡、和长肉（你是不是想起了身边的某人？），所以hog还可以活用为动词，表示“贪婪地占据”、“霸占”，比如：
I hate the people hogging the bathroom for a long time.
我讨厌那些长时间占据洗手间的人。
但是在上面表示“猪”的单词里好像都不能表示“猪年”。
在中文里“猪年”其实是指生肖，那么我们看看十二个生肖英语怎么说？
Rat 鼠 （不能用 mouse）
Ox 牛 （不能用 cow）
Tiger 虎
Rabbit 兔
Dragon 龙
Snake 蛇
Horse 马
Goat 羊 （不能用 sheep）
Monkey 猴
Rooster 鸡 （不能用 chicken）
Dog 狗
Pig 猪

Year of the (填入上面的动物名称) 可以用来表达某个生肖年：
A: What’s the Chinese zodiac/animal sign of 2019?
B: It’s the year of the Pig.
A: 2019 是什么年？
B: 是猪年。
一般来说，表示“生肖”的单词，优先使用通俗易懂的口语词，比如，“蛇”会用snake，而不是serpent；“牛”会用ox，而不是buffalo；“兔”会用rabbit，而不是hare。
说到这里，有读者可能觉得表示“鸡”的rooster有点难，为什么不用更通俗易懂的chicken或者cock呢？
这里还得考虑“歧义”的因素，chicken还可以表示“鸡肉”，用在年份里不太合适；而cock在俚语中更多地表示男性的“小丁丁”，就更不合适啦。rooster没有这样的歧义，只表示威武神气的“大公鸡”。
来看看下面的对话，熟悉一下如何说属相：
A: What Chinese zodiac/animal sign were you born under?
B: I was born in the year of the Monkey.
或是
I was born under the sign of the Monkey.
A: What is your Chinese zodiac/animal sign?
B: My Chinese zodiac/animal sign is the Monkey.
或是
I’m a Monkey.
A: 你属什麼？
B: 我属猴。

但是“猪年是我本命年”用英语怎么说吗？
我属猪。
My animal sign is pig.
“本命年”的英文是the year of one's birth sign，例如：
2019是我的本命年。
2019 is the year of my birth sign.

所以“今年是我的本命年”用英语来说就是：
This year is my year of fate.
This year is my animal year.
This year is my birth year.
This year is my big year.

最后附上一篇全英文的针对中国属相的介绍：
Chinese zodiac signs represent twelve different types of personalities. The zodiac traditionally begins with the sign of the Rat, and there are many stories about the origins of the Chinese Zodiac which explain why this is so (see below). The following are the twelve zodiac signs in order and their characteristics.

Rat - 鼠 (Yang, 1st Trine, Fixed Element Water): Forthright, tenacious, intense, meticulous, charismatic, sensitive, hardworking, industrious, charming, eloquent, sociable, artistic, shrewd. Can be manipulative, vindictive, self-destructive, mendacious, venal, obstinate, critical, over-ambitious, ruthless, intolerant, scheming.
Ox - 牛 (Water buffalo in Vietnam) (Yin, 2nd Trine, Fixed Element Water): Dependable, ambitious, calm, methodical, born leader, patient, hardworking, conventional, steady, modest, logical, resolute, tenacious. Can be stubborn, narrow-minded, materialistic, rigid, demanding.
Tiger - 虎 (Yang, 3rd Trine, Fixed Element Wood): Unpredictable, rebellious, colorful, powerful, passionate, daring, impulsive, vigorous, stimulating, sincere, affectionate, humanitarian, generous. Can be restless, reckless, impatient, quick-tempered, obstinate, selfish, aggressive, moody.
Rabbit - 兔 (Cat in Vietnam) (Yin, 4th Trine, Fixed Element Wood): Gracious, good friend, kind, sensitive, soft-spoken, amiable, elegant, reserved, cautious, artistic, thorough, tender, self-assured, shy, astute, compassionate,lucky, flexible. Can be moody, detached, superficial, self-indulgent, opportunistic, stubborn.
Dragon - 龙 (Yang, 1st Trine, Fixed Element Wood): Magnanimous, stately, vigorous, strong, self-assured, proud, noble, direct, dignified, jealous, eccentric, intellectual, fiery, passionate, decisive, pioneering, artistic, generous, loyal. Can be tactless, arrogant, imperious, tyrannical, demanding, intolerant, dogmatic, violent, impetuous, brash.
Snake - 蛇 (Yin, 2nd Trine, Fixed Element Fire): Deep thinker, wise, mystic, graceful, soft-spoken, sensual, creative, prudent, shrewd, elegant, cautious, responsible, calm, strong, constant, purposeful. Can be loner, bad communicator, possessive, hedonistic, self-doubting, distrustful, mendacious, suffocating, cold.
Horse - 马 (Yang, 3rd Trine, Fixed Element Fire): Cheerful, popular, quick-witted, changeable, earthy, perceptive, talkative, agile - mentally and physically, magnetic, intelligent, astute, flexible, open-minded. Can be fickle, arrogant, childish, anxious, rude, gullible, stubborn.
Sheep, Goat, or Ram - 羊 (Yin, 4th Trine, Fixed Element Fire): Righteous, sincere, sympathetic, mild-mannered, shy, artistic, creative, gentle, compassionate, understanding, mothering, determined, peaceful, generous, seeks security. Can be moody, indecisive, over-passive, worrier, pessimistic, over-sensitive, complainer, weak-willed.
Monkey - 猴 (Yang, 1st Trine, Fixed Element Metal): Inventor, motivator, improviser, quick-witted, inquisitive, flexible, innovative, problem solver, self-assured, sociable, artistic, polite, dignified, competitive, objective, factual, intellectual. Can be egotistical, vain, selfish, reckless, snobbish, deceptive, manipulative, cunning, jealous, suspicious.
Rooster - 鸡 (Yin, 2nd Trine, Fixed Element Metal): Acute, neat, meticulous, organized, self-assured, decisive, conservative, critical, perfectionist, alert, zealous, practical, scientific, responsible. Can be over zealous and critical, puritanical, egotistical, abrasive, opinionated, given to empty bravado.
Dog - 狗 (Yang, 3rd Trine, Fixed Element Metal): Honest, intelligent, straightforward, loyal, sense of justice and fair play, attractive, amicable, unpretentious, sociable, open-minded, idealistic, moralistic, practical, affectionate, sensitive, easy going. Can be cynical, lazy, cold, judgmental, pessimistic, worrier, stubborn, quarrelsome.
Pig - 猪 (Wild boar in Japan and Elephant in Northern Thailand) (Yin, 4th Trine, Fixed Element Water): Honest, gallant, sturdy, sociable, peace-loving, patient, loyal, hard-working, trusting, sincere, calm, understanding, thoughtful, scrupulous, passionate, intelligent. Can be naïve, over-reliant, self-indulgent, gullible, fatalistic, materialistic.
In Chinese astrology the animal signs assigned by year represent what others perceive you as being or how you present yourself. It is a common misconception that the animals assigned by year are the only signs, and many western descriptions of Chinese astrology draw solely on this system. In fact, there are also animal signs assigned by month (called inner animals) and hours of the day (called secret animals).

To sum it up, while a person might appear to be a dragon because they were born in the year of the dragon, they might also be a snake internally and an ox secretively. In total, this makes for 8,640 possible combinations (60 year cycle (5 elements x 12 animals) x 12 months x 12 times of day) that a person might be. These are all considered critical for the proper use of Chinese astrology。