How old are you? 你幾歲

Dear friends,

Here is the lesson today, we are going to learn how to describe the age, with the Chinese word 歲(suì, years of age) and the numbers in Chinese. I have ever created a series of videos about Chinese numbers from 0-100, please check the following link for your reference:

http://www.chinese-word.com/lessons/numbers.html

Here is the video for the lesson today:

The dialogue is about a man talking with a woman, here are the phrases:

Man:

How old are you?

你幾歲

Nǐ jǐ suì

你(you) + 幾(how many) + 歲(years of age)

Woman:

I am 28 years old.

我二十八歲

Wǒ èr-shí bā suì

我(I) + 二十八(28) + 歲(years of age)

note: we don't use "am" for the subject 我(I) here in Chinese, since it's not necessary in Chinese.

Woman:

How old are you?

你今年幾歲

Nǐ jīn nián jǐ suì

你(you) + 今年(this year) + 幾(how many) + 歲(years of age)

note: this is the same phrase in English for "How old are you?" In modern Chinese, people will add 今年(this year) to emphasize something (I don't know, the age of the man?)

Man:

I am 56 years old this year.

我今年五十六歲

Wǒ jīn nián wǔ-shí liù suì

我(I) + 今年(this year) + 五十六(56) + 歲(years of age)

note: the reply of the man also add 今年(this year), it doesn't mean to emphasize anything I guess. It's just a style of a modern Chinese sentence.

You may use the pattern of the sentence for your own:

我今年...歲

Wǒ jīn nián ... suì

我(I) + 今年(this year) + your age + 歲(years of age)

Please check my Chinese numbers from 0 to 100 the mp3 database:

http://www.chinese-word.com/phrase/chinese-number-0-10.html

Woman:

My father is 7 years older than you.

我父親比你大七歲

Wǒ fù-qīn bǐ nǐ dà qī suì

我(my) + 父親(father) + 比(compare) + 你(you) + 大(older) + 七(7) + 歲(years)

Remember we have ever learned the Chinese word 我的(my), which is 我(I) + 的(of), but this time we only use the character 我(I) as 我的(my), since it is connected with a noun, 父親(father), which becomes 我父親(my father).

Here is the Chinese character:

compare

比

bǐ

which is used when comparing two things, like:

比你大

bǐ nǐ dà

比(compare) + 你(you) + 大(big, older)

this 3-character idiom 比你大 could mean "bigger than you" or "older than you" in Chinese.

比你大七歲

bǐ nǐ dà qī suì

比你大(older than you) + 七歲(7 years)

which means "older than you by 7 years"

Man:

You are 12 years younger than my wife.

你比我太太小十二歲

Nǐ bǐ wǒ tài-tài xiǎo shí èr suì

你(you) + 比(compare) + 我(my) + 太太(wife) + 小(younger) + 十二(12) + 歲(years)

Here 我(I) + a noun 太太(wife), it becomes 我太太(my wife). And the 2-character word 太太(tài-tài, wife) is a traditional Chinese word, which is still used in Taiwan and lot of places out of China.

Here is the 3-character idiom:

比我(太太)小

bǐ wǒ(tài-tài) xiǎo

比(compare) + 我(太太)(my wife) + 小(small, younger)

the 3-character idiom 比我小 could mean "small than me" or "younger than me"

Woman:

My husband is 40 years old this year.

我先生今年四十歲

Wǒ xiān-shēng jīn nián sì-shí suì

我(my) + 先生(husband) + 今年(this year) + 四十(40) + 歲(years)

The 2-character word 先生(xiān-shēng, husband) is a traditional Chinese word, which is still used in Taiwan and lot of places out of China.

Man:

He is the same age as my wife.

他和我太太年紀一樣

Tā hé wǒ tài-tài nián-jì yí-yàng

他(he) + 和(with) + 我(my) + 太太(wife) + 年紀(age) + 一樣(same)

Well, please check the analysis of the phrases and vocabulary of this lesson via my database site:

http://www.chinese-word.com/lessons/lesson-44.html

Thanks for reading my blog, and please remember to subscribe my YouTube channel for encouragement.

Have a nice day!

Regards,

Andres Leo