How do we express our age and ask someone’s age in Japanese?
歳 (SAI), the age
When we talk about the age in Japanese, a key word is
歳
sai
year(s) old
We combine this with the number and the question word.
How do we ask the age?
First of all, it is not so impolite to ask someone’s age in Japan between young people.
But still, pay attention to do that toward an adult.
Well, taking that into account, let’s check how to ask the age.
Actually, you need to remember two ways to ask because both of them are frequently used :
Polite :
おいくつですか。
oikutsu desu ka.
How old are you?
Neutral :
何歳ですか。
nan sai desu ka.
How old are you?
*NOTE 1 :
おいくつ is a polite way ot asking the number of something.
It consists of お (o), a prefix to make a noun more polite and いくつ (ikutsu), a question word for the number.
So, there can be いくつですか。（ikutsu desu ka）without お (o) but it sounds a bit impolite.
*NOTE 2 :
いくつ (ikutsu) itself is not limited only for the age. So you can use it when you order something and they ask you how many slots you want.
Tell the age
When it comes to telling the age, the most difficult part is the sound of some numbers attached to 歳 (sai : age) and the sound of 歳 itself.
ref : Japanese number (0-99)
The ages that you need to pay attention to are :
1, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10 (30, 40…) and 20
We can regroup them into the following 3 groups.
a (fixed sound) :
4, 7, 9
b (changed sound) :
1, 8, 10 (30, 40…)
c (special) :
20
Group A (4, 7, 9)
4, 7, 9 have two basic pronounciations.
4 : yon, shi
7 : nana, shichi
9 : kyuu, ku
When 4, 7, 9 are combined with the age, 歳 (sai), the sound of these numbers is fixed to
４歳
YON sai
4 years old
７歳
NANA sai
7 years old
９歳
KYUU sai
9 years old
For example,
わたしは９歳です。
watashi wa kyuu sai desu.
I’m 9 years old.
Group B (1, 8, 10 (30, 40…))
1, 8, 10 and the multiples of 10 such 30, 40 but except 20 must change their sound.
At the same time, the sound of 歳 (sai) must also be changed.
Original sound :
1 : ichi
8 : hachi
10 : juu
30 : san juu
Changed sound :
１歳
I Ssai
1 year old
８歳
HA Ssai
8 years old
１０歳
JU Ssai
10 years old
３０歳
SAN JU Ssai
30 years old
*NOTE
These rules for groups A and B are applied to when they are combined directly with 歳 (sai).
Otherwise, we can follow how to read the number.
e.g.
８歳
HA Ssai
8 years old
８８歳
hachi juu HA Ssai
88 years old
For example,
田中さんは８８歳です。
Tanaka-san wa hachi juu hassai desu.
Tanaka-san is 88 years old.
Group C (20)
20 years old is considered to be a special age in Japan, the age of adulthood.
So, there is also a special way of expressing it.
２０歳
HATACHI
20 years old.
For example,
山田さんは２０歳です。
Yamada-san wa hatachi desu.
Yamada-san is 20 years old.
How old were you when we were born in Japan?
In Japan, the age of a newborn baby’s age is 0.
０歳
Zero / Rei sai
0 years old.
*NOTE :
You can also tell the age of a baby by the length of time (without 歳) it has been alive.
e.g.
３ヶ月
san ka getsu
3 month (old)
半年
hantoshi
6 months
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