Questions & Answers about Ей только восемь лет.
Why does the sentence start with Ей instead of Она?
In Russian, you do not say that someone is a certain age. Instead, age is expressed as something given to them. You have to use the Dative case, which often translates to 'to someone'. Ей is the Dative form of Она (she), so the sentence literally translates as 'To her only eight years'.
Why do we use лет for 'years' here instead of год or года?
The word for 'years' changes depending on the number right before it. Because the number is восемь (eight), we use лет. As a rule, bare numbers 5 through 20 (including 8) always take лет. You only use год for numbers ending in 1, and года for numbers ending in 2, 3, or 4.
Is лет related to the Russian word for summer?
Yes, it is! Лет is the plural genitive form of the word лето (summer). Historically, Russians counted a person's age by the number of summers they had lived through. So saying someone is eight лет essentially means they have seen eight summers.
Why is there no verb like 'is' in this sentence?
In the present tense, Russian almost always leaves out the verb 'to be' (is, am, are). Even though we are talking about age, the basic rule stays the same. You just state the person in the Dative case (Ей) and their age (восемь лет) without adding a linking verb.