Tutorial 10: Expressing Age - Chinese Numbers Explained

岁

Before going on to higher numbers let's briefly look at another common application, age:

岁

suì

. Now that you know numbers up to 999 you can probably say the age of anyone you are likely to meet, or even most biblical characters! Expressing age is straightforward, Just remember not to try to slip 是 or 有 in there, just say "subject" "number" "years":

Expressing Age
I	forty-two			years
我	四	十	二	岁
wǒ	sì	shí	èr	suì

If you're talking about young children, 'half-years' will frequently come up:

Two and a half
she	two	years	half
她	两	岁	半
tā	liǎng	suì	bàn

How To Ask About Someone's Age

It's actually tricker to ask someone's age than to say the age. First off, be careful in general about asking someone's age, it may be considered impolite. If you do ask, how you do it depends mostly on the age of the person you are asking. For children (up to and maybe including the low teens):

Asking Age: Children
you	how	old
你	几	岁
nǐ	jǐ	suì

For most adults, it's expressed a little differently:

Asking Age: Adults
you	how many		years
你	多	少	岁
nǐ	duō	shǎo	suì

The difference is that 几 refers to only a few of something (generally less than 10) and with 多少 the answer could be much larger.

And then there is a more casual way to ask:

Asking Age: Casual
you	how	old
你	多	大
nǐ	duō	dà

Finally, there is a very formal, polite way to ask:

Asking Age: Formal
you	how old
您	贵庚
nín	guì gēng

How Do I Talk About Age Differences?

If you want to talk about age differences you can use

比

bǐ

, which means "compared to". Check out these examples:

How much older are you than little brother?
You	(compare)	little brother	older	how many	years
你	比	妹妹	大	几	岁
nǐ	bǐ	dì dì	dà	jǐ	suì

I am 4 years older than little sister
I	(compare)	little sister	older	four	years
我	比	妹妹	大	四	岁
wǒ	bǐ	mèi mèi	dà	sì	suì

I am 3 years younger than big brother
I	(compare)	big brother	older	four	years
我	比	哥哥	小	三	岁
wǒ	bǐ	gē gē	xiǎo	sān	suì

For more, check out the expressing age difference entry in the Chinese Grammar Wiki.

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Chinese Numbers for iPhone & iPad lets you practice numbers and counting anytime, anywhere you are. Has two modes to input numbers and a challenging game to test your translation skills.

Chinese Numbers Explained

Expressing Age

How To Ask About Someone's Age

How Do I Talk About Age Differences?

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