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¿Cuántos años cumples?

¿Cuántos años cumples?
How old are you turning?
From Lesson 131:Celebrations (¡feliz cumpleaños!, la Navidad)·Spanish (Spain)

Breakdown of ¿Cuántos años cumples?

cuánto
how much
el año
the year
cumplir
to turn (an age)

Questions & Answers about ¿Cuántos años cumples?

Wait, I learned that "How old are you?" is ¿Cuántos años tienes?. Why is this sentence different?
While ¿Cuántos años tienes? asks for your current age (literally, "How many years do you have?"), this sentence specifically asks "How old are you turning?" for a birthday. The verb cumplir means to complete or fulfill, so you are literally asking "How many years are you completing?"
How do I answer this question?
You can answer using the same verb. For example, you can say Cumplo treinta años (I am turning thirty) or simply Cumplo treinta. You could also just answer with the number itself.
Is the verb cumplir only used for birthdays?
No, cumplir is a regular verb that means to complete, achieve, or fulfill. You will see it in other phrases like cumplir una promesa (to keep a promise) or cumplir las reglas (to follow the rules). However, cumplir años is the standard Spanish phrase for having a birthday.
Why does Cuántos end in -os here?
The question word cuánto (how much or how many) changes its ending to match the noun it describes. Because años (years) is a masculine and plural word, cuánto becomes the masculine plural cuántos.

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