Age with "suì" "岁"
Use 岁 (suì) to tell someone your age. The sentence pattern is a bit different from English, however.
Content
Structure
The structure for telling someone's age with 岁 (suì) is:
Subj. + Number + 岁
This is equivalent to someone "is x years old" in English. Notice that you don't need to include any verb when you use 岁 (suì).
Examples
- 我 20 岁 。
Wǒ èrshí suì .
I am 20 years old.
- 我 妈妈 今年 45 岁 。
Wǒ māma jīnnián sìshí-wǔ suì .
My mother is 45 years old this year.
- 我 儿子 一 岁 半。
Wǒ érzi yī suì bàn.
My child is one and a half years old.
- 你 爷爷 今年 80 岁 吗？
Nǐ yéye jīnnián bāshí suì ma？
Is your grandpa eighty years old this year?
- 他 女朋友 也 20 岁 吗？
Tā nǚpéngyou yě èrshí suì ma?
Is his girlfriend also twenty years old?
Note that you don't need the verb 是 (shì) in any of these sentences, and you don't need a measure word like 个 (gè) either. In fact, it would be incorrect to use either of those with 岁 suì):
我 的 孩子 一 个 岁 。
Wǒ de háizi yī gè suì .我 的 孩子 是 一 岁 。
Wǒ de háizi shì yī suì .- 我 的 孩子 一 岁 。
Wǒ de háizi yī suì .
My child is one year old.
See Also
Sources and further reading
- Short-term Spoken Chinese: Intermediate (汉语口语速成中级篇) Chapter 10
- New Concept Chinese (新概念汉语 初级本I) Chapter 5