Asking someone's age in Chinese is not one phrase but a small set, and choosing the right one is partly a matter of politeness. The question itself signals how old you assume the person is: you ask a toddler one way, a classmate another, and a grandmother a third. Answering is grammatically simpler than English in one striking way — there is no verb "to be." You do not say the equivalent of "I am thirty years old"; you say, more literally, "I thirty years-of-age." This page covers both halves: which question to use, and how to state an age without tripping over the missing copula.
The question changes with the person
| Ask | Of whom | Literally |
|---|---|---|
| 几岁 (jǐ suì) | a small child | "how-many years-old?" |
| 多大 (duō dà) | older children, peers, adults | "how big?" |
| 多大年纪 (duō dà niánjì) | elders (polite) | "how great an age?" |
The logic behind 几岁 is exactly the 几 vs 多少 distinction: 几 expects a small number, the kind you can count on your fingers, so it fits a child perfectly and would sound faintly absurd aimed at an adult (you'd be implying they're under ten). For anyone past early childhood, switch to 多大, literally "how big" — Chinese measures age as size, the same 多 + adjective pattern as 多高 (how tall) and 多重 (how heavy), covered under 多 questions.
小朋友，你几岁了？
xiǎopéngyou, nǐ jǐ suì le
How old are you, little one? (informal, to a child) — 几岁 for a small number.
你今年多大？
nǐ jīnnián duō dà
How old are you this year? (neutral, to a peer) — 多大 = 'how big' for anyone past childhood.
For older people, wrap the question in a respectful frame. 您多大年纪？ or 您多大岁数？ (nín duō dà suìshu) with the polite pronoun 您 (nín) is the courteous default; the very formal, literary 高寿 (gāoshòu, "esteemed age") survives for addressing the elderly with special deference.
您多大年纪了？身体真好！
nín duō dà niánjì le, shēntǐ zhēn hǎo
How old are you, if I may ask? You look so healthy! (polite, to an elder) — 您 + 多大年纪.
Stating age: no 是, and 岁 needs no measure word
Two things surprise English speakers about the answer. First, 岁 (suì, "year of age") attaches straight to the number — no measure word in between. 岁 is itself a measuring noun, so 三岁 is complete; 三个岁 is wrong, the way you would never say "three *units of years old."
我女儿三岁半。
wǒ nǚ'ér sān suì bàn
My daughter is three and a half. (neutral) — number + 岁 directly; 半 for the half.
Second, and more important: you drop the verb 是. Age is a quantity predicate, and Chinese lets a number-phrase stand as the predicate on its own — the same reason you say 现在三点 ("it's three o'clock") with no 是. The amount is the statement.
我今年三十岁。
wǒ jīnnián sānshí suì
I'm thirty this year. (neutral) — no 是: the number-phrase is the predicate.
他二十五，我二十三。
tā èrshíwǔ, wǒ èrshísān
He's twenty-five, I'm twenty-three. (informal) — 岁 itself can drop once age is the topic.
This is why age behaves like an adjective. The core words are 大 (dà, "old," literally big) and 小 (xiǎo, "young," literally small), and they slot into comparisons directly, no copula required — see adjectives are verbs.
哥哥比我大两岁。
gēge bǐ wǒ dà liǎng suì
My older brother is two years older than me. (neutral) — 大 + 两岁; note 两, not 二.
That 两岁 is the trap: a plain "two" before 岁 is 两, not 二 — 弟弟才两岁 "my little brother is only two." But once the two sits inside a larger number, it reverts to 二: 十二岁 (12), 二十二岁 (22). Full rule under 二 vs 两.
我弟弟才两岁，还不会说话。
wǒ dìdi cái liǎng suì, hái bú huì shuōhuà
My little brother is only two — he can't talk yet. (informal) — 两岁, never 二岁.
我父亲今年八十了，还每天散步。
wǒ fùqīn jīnnián bāshí le, hái měitiān sànbù
My father turned eighty this year and still walks every day. (neutral) — 了 marks reaching the age.
A note on the zodiac (属)
Chinese speakers, especially when placing someone's exact age, often ask the zodiac sign instead of the year. The verb is 属 (shǔ, "to belong to"): 你属什么？ "What sign are you?" — answered with 属 + animal.
你属什么的？我属龙。
nǐ shǔ shénme de, wǒ shǔ lóng
What's your zodiac sign? I'm a Dragon. (informal) — 属 + the animal, no 是.
Like age itself, this takes no 是 — 属 is the verb, so *我是属龙 is a redundant double marking many learners produce.
Common Mistakes
1. Inserting 是 before an age. Age is a quantity predicate; the plain statement drops 是.
❌ 我是三十岁。
Incorrect (as a plain statement) — drop 是: 我三十岁. (是 only returns for contrastive emphasis: 他是三十岁，不是二十岁.)
✅ 我三十岁。
wǒ sānshí suì
I'm thirty. — no copula.
2. Asking an adult 几岁. It implies you take them for a child.
❌ 老师，您几岁？
Inappropriate — 几岁 suits a small child. Ask 您多大年纪？
✅ 老师，您多大年纪？
lǎoshī, nín duō dà niánjì
Teacher, how old are you? (polite) — 多大年纪 for an elder.
3. Adding a measure word before 岁. 岁 already measures; nothing goes between it and the number.
❌ 我三个岁。
Incorrect — 岁 needs no measure word: 我三岁.
✅ 他五岁。
tā wǔ suì
He's five. — number + 岁 directly.
4. Using 二 for a bare "two years old." A solitary two before 岁 is 两.
❌ 妹妹二岁。
Incorrect — a plain two before 岁 is 两: 妹妹两岁.
✅ 妹妹两岁。
mèimei liǎng suì
My little sister is two. — 两岁, not 二岁.
Key Takeaways
- Match the question to the age: 几岁 (small child) → 多大 (older kids, adults) → 多大年纪 / 多大岁数 (elders, polite, with 您).
- 多大 literally means "how big" — Chinese frames age as size, using 大 (old) and 小 (young).
- State age with number + 岁 and no 是: 我三十岁. 岁 takes no measure word.
- Age acts like an adjective predicate, so comparisons use 大/小 directly: 大两岁 ("two years older").
- A bare "two years old" is 两岁; inside a bigger number it stays 二 (十二岁, 二十二岁).
- Add 了 to mean "have turned" an age: 八十了.
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- 几 vs 多少HSK 1 — 几 (jǐ) and 多少 (duōshao) both ask 'how many/much', but 几 expects a small count and needs a measure word (几个人), while 多少 covers any or unknown quantity and usually drops it (多少钱).
- Adjectives Are Stative Verbs (No 是)HSK 1 — A Chinese adjective is a kind of verb — it predicates on its own, with NO copula 是 (shì). 她很高 'she is tall', 天气很好 'the weather is good', 这个太贵了 'this is too expensive' — never *她是高. 高 already means 'to be tall', so 是 has no job; negate with 不 (不高), not 没.
- 二 vs 两HSK 1 — Chinese has two words for 'two': 二 (èr) is the counting digit — used in ordinals, tens, years and decimals — while 两 (liǎng) means 'two of something' before a measure word and before 千/万/亿.