3.1: Age with "sui"
- Page ID
- 30594
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Use 岁 (suì) to give a person's age, similar to how we say "years old" in English. There are a details that work differently from English, however.
Basic Structure for 岁 (suì)
Structure
The structure for telling someone's age with 岁 (suì) is:
Subj. + Number + 岁
This is equivalent to someone "is x years old" in English. Notice that you don't need to include any verb when you use 岁 (suì).
Examples
- 我 20 岁 。Wǒ èrshí suì.I am 20 years old.
- 我 儿子 一 岁 。Wǒ érzi yī suì.My son is one year old.
- 我 妈妈 今年 45 岁 。Wǒ māma jīnnián sìshí-wǔ suì.My mother is 45 years old this year.
- 你 爷爷 今年 80 岁 吗?Nǐ yéye jīnnián bāshí suì ma?Is your grandpa eighty years old this year?
- 他 女朋友 也 20 岁 吗?Tā nǚpéngyou yě èrshí suì ma?Is his girlfriend also twenty years old?
Note that you shouldn't use either the verb 是 (shì) or the measure word like 个 (gè) in any of these sentences.
- 我 的 孩子 一 个 岁 。Wǒ de háizi yī gè suì.
- 我 的 孩子 是 一 岁 。Wǒ de háizi shì yī suì.
- 我 的 孩子 一 岁 。Wǒ de háizi yī suì.My child is one year old.
Adding "And a Half" to an Age
Structure
The word for "half" in Chinese is 半 (bàn), and you simply add this after 岁 (suì).
Subj. + Number + 岁 + 半
Examples
- 她两岁半。Tā liǎng suì bàn.She is two and a half years old.
- 我 儿子 一 岁 半。Wǒ érzi yī suì bàn.My son is one and a half years old.