{"id":16614,"date":"2021-03-22T07:00:12","date_gmt":"2021-03-22T11:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=16614"},"modified":"2021-03-21T05:33:00","modified_gmt":"2021-03-21T09:33:00","slug":"asking-about-age-in-chinese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/asking-about-age-in-chinese\/","title":{"rendered":"Asking about Age in Chinese"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo by Bru-nO from Pixabay, CCO<\/p><\/div>\n

When you wonder about someone\u2019s age (\u5e74\u9f84<\/strong> ni\u00e1n l\u00edng), and you don\u2019t want to guess (\u731c\u731c<\/strong> c\u0101i c\u0101i) or make an assessment (\u5224\u65ad<\/strong> p\u00e0n du\u00e0n), here are all the Chinese ways to ask for someone\u2019s age.<\/p>\n

The character \u591a<\/strong> (du\u014d) has many usages. It serves as adjective, verb, and numeral; and means a lot<\/em>, more<\/em>, too many<\/em>. \u591a<\/strong> is also an adverb used in questions to mean how<\/em>. One of the first phrases tourists in China learn is the short useful interrogative phrase for shopping \u2013 \u591a\u5c11<\/strong> (du\u014d sh\u01ceo) meaning how much<\/em>, how many<\/em>. In a store, when pointing to an object asking \u8fd9\u4e2a\u591a\u5c11\u94b1\uff1f<\/strong> (zh\u00e8 ge du\u014d sh\u01ceo qi\u00e1n?) meaning how much this cost?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u591a<\/strong> can be followed by other adjectives to form more questions. For example:<\/p>\n

\u4ece\u8fd9\u513f\u5230\u4f60\u7684\u5bb6\u4e61\u6709\u591a\u8fdc\uff1f<\/strong><\/p>\n

C\u00f3ng zh\u00e8 er d\u00e0o n\u01d0 de ji\u0101 xi\u0101ng y\u01d2u du\u014d yu\u01cen?<\/p>\n

How far is it from here to your hometown?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u8d35\u5dde\u7684\u5317\u76d8\u6c5f\u7b2c\u4e00\u6865\u6709\u591a\u9ad8\uff1f<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gu\u00eczh\u014du de b\u011bi p\u00e1n ji\u0101ng d\u00ec y\u012b qi\u00e1o y\u01d2u du\u014d g\u0101o?<\/p>\n

How high is the Beipanjiang Bridge in Guizhou province? <\/em><\/p>\n

\u5f53\u83b7\u5f97\u7b7e\u8bc1\u540e\uff0c\u6211\u53ef\u4ee5\u5728\u4e2d\u56fd\u505c\u7559\u591a\u4e45\uff1f<\/strong><\/p>\n

D\u0101ng hu\u00f2 d\u00e9 qi\u0101n zh\u00e8ng h\u00f2u, w\u01d2 k\u011b y\u01d0 z\u00e0i zh\u014dng gu\u00f3 t\u00edng li\u00fa du\u014d ji\u01d4?<\/p>\n

How long can I stay in China after obtaining the visa?<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For asking someone\u2019s age we use the same pattern, but with the adjective \u5927<\/strong> (d\u00e0), which means big<\/em>, old<\/em>. \u4f60\u591a\u5927\u4e86\uff1f<\/strong> (n\u01d0 du\u014d d\u00e0 le?) means how old are you?<\/em> The time phrase \u4eca\u5e74<\/strong> (j\u012bn ni\u00e1n), meaning this year<\/em> can be added before the question word: \u4f60\u4eca\u5e74\u591a\u5927\u4e86\uff1f<\/strong><\/p>\n

For example:<\/p>\n

\u5c0f\u864e\uff0c\u4f60\u4eca\u5e74\u591a\u5927\u4e86\uff1f<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u4e8c\u5341\u4e09\u5c81\u3002<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u4f60\u7684\u5f1f\u5f1f\u591a\u5927\u4e86\uff1f<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u6211\u6bd4\u4ed6\u5927\u4e94\u5c81\u3002<\/strong><\/p>\n

Xi\u01ceoh\u01d4, n\u01d0 j\u012bn ni\u00e1n du\u014d d\u00e0 le?<\/p>\n

\u00c8r sh\u00ed s\u0101n su\u00ec.<\/p>\n

N\u01d0 de d\u00ec du\u014d d\u00e0 le?<\/p>\n

W\u01d2 b\u01d0 t\u0101 d\u00e0 w\u01d4 su\u00ec.<\/p>\n

Xiaohu, how old are you?<\/em><\/p>\n

Twenty three years old. <\/em><\/p>\n

How old is your brother?<\/em><\/p>\n

I am five years older than him.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

In Chinese culture, respect\u00a0towards\u00a0parents and\u00a0elders\u00a0is considered a key value. Politeness is shown even when asking a senior\u2019s age. When addressing people over 50 with the question above it should be formulated slightly differently. First, the subject \u4f60<\/strong> (n\u01d0, you<\/em>), is replaced by its respective form \u60a8<\/strong> (n\u00edn). Second, the question word is followed by the nouns \u5e74\u7eaa<\/strong> (ni\u00e1n j\u00ec), or \u5c81\u6570<\/strong> (su\u00ec shu), both mean age<\/em>:<\/p>\n

\u60a8\u591a\u5927\u5e74\u7eaa\uff1f<\/strong>(n\u00edn du\u014d d\u00e0 ni\u00e1n j\u00ec?)<\/p>\n

\u60a8\u591a\u5927\u5c81\u6570\uff1f<\/strong>(n\u00edn du\u014d d\u00e0 su\u00ec shu?)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A more respectful term to ask about age doesn\u2019t include any question word. \u8d35<\/strong> (gu\u00ec) is an adjective meaning noble<\/em>, valuable<\/em>. \u8d35<\/strong> is probably familiar for many Chinese learners from the\u00a0 formal question: \u60a8\u8d35\u59d3\uff1f<\/strong> (n\u00edn gu\u00ec x\u00ecng?), used when asking someone for their surname. The same pattern can be used for asking about age when you wish to be super polite. Replacing the Chinese noun for a surname in the Chinese noun \u5e9a<\/strong> (g\u0113ng) that means age<\/em>, for asking elders for their age: \u60a8\u8d35\u5e9a\uff1f<\/strong>(n\u00edn gu\u00ec g\u0113ng?).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Another question word to use when asking someone\u2019s age is \u51e0<\/strong> (j\u01d0). One of the definitions of the character \u51e0<\/strong> is several<\/em>, a few<\/em>, referring to an uncertain number that is more than one, and probably less than ten. Another definition of the character\u51e0<\/strong> is how much<\/em>, how many<\/em>, and it\u2019s used in quantity questions regarding small numbers. Asking about age with this question word is adequate only when addressing young children, roughly under 10 years old. For example:<\/p>\n

\u5c0f\u670b\u53cb\uff0c\u4f60\u51e0\u5c81\u4e86?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u6211\u516d\u5c81\u3002<\/strong><\/p>\n

Xi\u01ceo p\u00e9ng y\u01d2u, n\u01d0 j\u01d0 su\u00ec le?<\/p>\n

W\u01d2 li\u00f9 su\u00ec.<\/p>\n

Kid, how are you?<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m six years old.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There are two more indirectly ways to ask about age in Chinese, both refer to the year of birth. The first way is to simply ask about one\u2019s year of birth:<\/p>\n

\u4f60\u662f\u54ea\u4e00\u5e74\u51fa\u751f\u7684\uff1f<\/strong> (n\u01d0 sh\u00ec n\u01ce y\u012b ni\u00e1n ch\u016b sh\u0113ng de?), meaning which year were you born?<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The second way involves the Chinese zodiac (\u751f\u8096<\/strong>, sheng xi\u00e0o). The Chinese zodiac is a repeating cycle of\u00a012\u00a0years, with each year being represented by an animal and its reputed attributes. The zodiac sign indicates the birth year, hence finding out someone\u2019s zodiac sign can help you calculate that person\u2019s age. \u4f60\u5c5e\u4ec0\u4e48\uff1f<\/strong> (n\u01d0 sh\u01d4 sh\u00e9n me?) meaning what is your Chinese zodiac animal?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u597d\u597d\u5b66\u4e60\uff0c\u5929\u5929\u5411\u4e0a\uff01<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

When you wonder about someone\u2019s age (\u5e74\u9f84 ni\u00e1n l\u00edng), and you don\u2019t want to guess (\u731c\u731c c\u0101i c\u0101i) or make an assessment (\u5224\u65ad p\u00e0n du\u00e0n), here are all the Chinese ways to ask for someone\u2019s age. The character \u591a (du\u014d) has many usages. It serves as adjective, verb, and numeral; and means a lot, more…<\/p>\n

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