Log inSign up

¿Qué edad tiene tu hijo?

¿Qué edad tiene tu hijo?
How old is your son?
From Lesson 48:Personal details (la edad, la fecha de nacimiento)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about ¿Qué edad tiene tu hijo?

Why does this sentence use tiene (has) instead of a word for "is"?
In Spanish, people don't "be" an age; they "have" an age or "have" years. Because of this, you must use a form of the verb tener (to have). Literally, this asks "What age does your son have?".
I usually hear ¿Cuántos años...? for age. Can I use that instead of ¿Qué edad...?
Yes, they are completely interchangeable! ¿Cuántos años tiene tu hijo? literally means "How many years does your son have?", while ¿Qué edad tiene tu hijo? means "What age does your son have?". Both are perfectly natural ways to ask "How old is your son?".
Why does the verb tiene come before tu hijo?
In Spanish questions, it is very common to swap the order of the subject and the verb. English uses helper words like "does" to form a question, but Spanish simply flips it: instead of "your son has" (tu hijo tiene), it becomes "has your son" (tiene tu hijo).
Why doesn't the word tu have an accent mark?
Without an accent mark, tu is a possessive word meaning "your" (as in tu hijo, your son). When it has an accent mark (tú), it means the subject "you".

Learn ¿Qué edad tiene tu hijo and more in Spanish

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning Spanish →