Compared to last year vs compared to last year’s

[Talab1234]

1. Sales figure for this year is better than last year.

2. Sales figure for this year is better than last year’s.

3. French economy is weathering April Lockdown better than last year’s.

4. French economy is weathering April Lockdown better than last year

What is the difference between last year and last year’s?

Are all the sentences grammatically correct?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

1. Sales figures for this year are better than last year.

This is short for better than they were last year.

2. Sales figures for this year are better than last year’s.

This is short for than last year's figures.

3. The French economy is weathering the April lockdown better than last year’s.

This is unclear. Last year's what? Last year's economy or last year's lockdown?

4. The French economy is weathering the April lockdown better than last year.

This is fine. It's short for better than it did last year. It's clear that it refers to the economy.

What is the difference between last year and last year’s?

Are all the sentences grammatically correct?

See the corrections.

Now you know!

 

[jutfrank]

With Charlie Bernstein's correction, I think 1 is just about okay, although it isn't strictly correct. If you want to use the possessive last year's, you need to make it clear what the possession applies to, as I've shown in the unspoken square brackets in the sentence below.

This year's sales figures are better than last year's [sales figures].

Another way to get the possession on both sides is with of, like this:

This year's sales figures are better than [those of] last year.

Here's another way to say what you mean:

Sales this year are up on last year.