Last days versus last days of the year - "dernier"

Question

Regarding "Les derniers jours de l'année sont toujours plus courts." and, "Les jours derniers, j'étais un peu malade." I'm unsure about the reasoning for the positioning of derniers in the second sentence.  Is it because they are not "final" days because that would imply that the person is dying and the sentence says there are only a little sick so therefore dernier goes after jours?

Answer

Bonjour Patricia !

Here "les jours derniers" means "these last days", i.e. the last days that just passed before this statement. Here they are not the end of something, but simply previous to the present moment.

I hope that's helpful!
Merci et à bientôt !