Talking About Age

Asking someone's age in Chinese is simple, but the polite version changes depending on who you're talking to. And the sentence itself has a surprise: when you state an age, you usually drop the verb. Let's walk through it.

The basic question: 几岁 and 多大

岁 (suì) means "years of age." There are two main ways to ask how old someone is, and they're not interchangeable.

• 你几岁? — for young children
• 你多大? — for teens and adults

几 (jǐ) expects a small number, so 几岁 fits a kid. 多大 (duō dà) literally means "how big," and it's the normal, neutral way to ask a peer.

• 你几岁? — How old are you? (to a little kid)
• 你多大? — How old are you? (to a friend)

The polite version: 多大年纪 and 您贵庚

For someone clearly older than you, soften the question. 年纪 (niánjì) means "age" in a respectful sense.

• 您多大年纪? — May I ask your age? (to an older person)

Notice 您 (nín), the polite "you," instead of 你. That pairing matters: 您 plus 年纪 reads as warm and respectful.

There's also a very formal phrase, 贵庚 (guìgēng), but it's old-fashioned and rare. You can recognize it, but you won't need to say it.

Answering: drop the verb

Here's the surprise. When you state an age, you don't use 是. The number-plus-岁 acts like the predicate all by itself.

• 我二十岁。 — I'm twenty. (not 我是二十岁)
• 他五岁。 — He's five.

This is the same pattern as adjective predicates, where the number and unit carry the meaning without a linking verb. Adding 是 here sounds wrong to a native ear, so leave it out.

You can add 是 in one case: for emphasis or contrast, like "I really am twenty." But as a beginner, just drop it every time and you'll be right.

The 了 that means "now"

You'll often hear 了 at the end of an age statement:

• 我二十岁了。 — I'm twenty now.

This 了 marks a new situation, a change. It carries the feeling of "I've reached twenty." It's optional, but it sounds natural, especially when a birthday just happened.

• 他三岁了。 — He's three now.

Dropping 岁 with kids

For small children, people often drop 岁 entirely after the number when answering 几岁:

• A: 你几岁? — How old are you?
• B: 五岁。 or just 五。 — Five.

This shortcut is mostly a kid-and-family thing. For adults, keep the 岁.

Talking about years born

Another common way to compare ages is by birth year. 属 (shǔ) is used for the Chinese zodiac animal, but at the basic level you can stick with the plain "born in" pattern using 年 (nián, year).

• 我是2000年出生的。 — I was born in the year 2000.

出生 (chūshēng) means "to be born." This sentence does use 是...的, because here you're focusing on when something happened, not stating an age.

Comparing ages

To say someone is older or younger, use 比 (bǐ) for comparison plus 大 (older) or 小 (younger).

• 我比他大。 — I'm older than him.
• 她比我小三岁。 — She's three years younger than me.

Notice the structure: 比 + person + 大/小 + (amount). The amount goes at the end. So 大三岁 is "older by three years."

• 哥哥比我大两岁。 — My older brother is two years older than me.

A quick recap

Ask 几岁 for kids, 多大 for peers, and 您多大年纪 for elders. When you answer, drop 是 and just say the number plus 岁. Add 了 for the "now" feeling, use 比 to compare, and you've got every age conversation a beginner needs.