Breakdown of Сколько вам лет?
сколько вам лет
how old are you (polite)
Questions & Answers about Сколько вам лет?
Why does this sentence use вам instead of вы?
In Russian, you do not say 'how old are you'. Instead, you literally ask 'how many years are to you?'. Вам is the dative case of вы (you, formal or plural), which shows who is receiving the years.
What does сколько mean on its own?
Сколько means 'how much' or 'how many'. When asking about age in Russian, you are always asking 'how many'.
Why is the word for 'years' лет here instead of год?
After quantity words like сколько (how many), we must use a plural form of the noun to count it. The plural form of год (year) used for counting 5 or more things is completely irregular: it changes to лет, which historically meant 'summers'.
Can I change the word order and ask Сколько лет вам?
Yes, word order in Russian is very flexible! Сколько вам лет? is the standard and most natural way to ask, but Сколько лет вам? is grammatically correct and just puts a little more emphasis on the word 'you'.
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