In order to talk about age, we need to use the counter 歳. Please note that 歳 is only used for talking about the age of living things like animals and humans. You would not, for example, say: あの車は何歳ですか?.
As with the previous counter words you have learned, 歳 has several irregularities in how it is read in combination with certain numbers, as shown in the table below.
English | Japanese |
---|---|
one year old | 一歳issai |
two years old | 二歳nisai |
three years old | 三歳sansai |
four years old | 四歳yonsai |
five years old | 五歳gosai |
six years old | 六歳rokusai |
seven years old | 七歳nanasai |
eight years old | 八歳hassai |
nine years old | 九歳kyuusai |
ten years old | 十歳zyussai |
eleven years old | 十 一歳zyuu issai |
twenty years old | 二十歳hatati |
thirty years old | 三十歳sanzyussai |
As you can see, twenty years old is an exception, and after that counting tens continues as expected.
Below are several example sentences relating to age.
English | Japanese |
---|---|
How old are you? | あなた は 何歳 です か?anata ha nansai desu ka? |
I am 40 years old. | 私 は 四十歳 です。watasi ha yonzyussai desu. |