Chinese Grammar Bank
HOW TO USE 岁?
A common question that might come in conversation is how old someone is.
This can be in casual conversation or in more formal situations, and is usually one of the first questions you ask, especially in a study setting.
BASIC STRUCTURE
Talking about age in Chinese is similar to talking about age in English. 岁 is equivalent to saying “years old”. 岁 is more frequently used.
In written Chinese, it’s acceptable to write age using Chinese characters or Roman numbers.
PATTERN
Subject + Age + 岁
|
我22岁
or 我二十二岁 wǒ èrshí’èr suì I’m twenty-two years old |
|
他已经三十岁了
tā yǐjīng sānshí suìle He is already thirty years old |
|
我朋友的儿子一岁
wǒ péngyǒu de érzi yī suì My friend’s son is one year old |
USING 半 WITH 岁
半 means half. It is added to 岁 to express “an age and a half”.
PATTERN
Subject + Age + 岁 + 半
|
她两岁半
tā liǎng suì bàn She is two and a half years old |
|
他的儿子五岁半
tā de érzi wǔ suì bàn His son is five and a half years old |
|
我长大了，已经十五岁半了
wǒ zhǎng dàle, yǐjīng shíwǔ suì bànle I’ve grown up, I’m already fifteen and a half years old |
ASKING ABOUT AGE WITH 岁
When in conversation, you might get asked a question about your age. Although there are many ways to ask about age, here we’ll focus on the ones that involve 岁。
When asking about a child’s age who is younger than 10 years old:
你几岁了？
How old are you?When asking people about the age of someone older than 10 years old:
你多少岁？
How old are you this year?A formal way of asking people about the age of someone older than 50 years old:
你今年多大岁数？
How old are you this year?NOTE || 你今年多大岁数? can be shortened to 您今年多大？
BONUS GRAMMAR
是 or the measure word 个 are not used with 岁, except in descriptive and 是。。。的 sentences.
| CHINESE | PINYIN | ENGLISH |
|---|---|---|
| 肖俊是一个五岁的小孩子。 | xiào jùn shì yīgè wǔ suì de xiǎo háizi. | Xiao Jun is a five-year-old child. |
| 她是十八岁开始学中文的。 | tā shì shíbā suì kāishǐ xué zhōngwén de. | She started learning Chinese at eighteen years old. |
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FAQs
What is 岁？
岁 (suì) is the unit measure of age.
How to use 岁?
岁 (suì) is added after someone’s age to state how old the person is.
他五十岁 (tā wǔshí suì) = He is fifty years old.
What is the pinyin for 岁？
The pinyin for 岁 is suì.
Some texts use Sui4.
Both Suì and Sui4 mean the same.
Does 岁 have other meanings?
岁 (suì) in a compound word like 岁月(suìyuè) means years.
Which questions can I use to ask about age?
There are three ways to ask about age using 岁:
1) 你几岁了？nǐ jǐ suìle? (For children younger than 10 years)
2) 你多少岁？nǐ duōshǎo suì? (For anyone older than 10 years)
3) 你今年多大岁数？nǐ jīnnián duōdà suìshu? (For people older than 50 years)