Chapter 5
ポケット日本語
なんさい
How old are you?
何才(なんさい)
Firstly, it’s generally not rude in 日本 to ask somebodies age (though like with anything, this doesn’t mean you can’t do it in a rude way). In 日本, respect for those older than you is an important part of daily life and culture, therefore it’s important to know people’s age.
| What age (are you?): 何なんWhat才さいAge/ age counterですか。 |
I am 'x' years old: 'x'Your age才さいAge/ age counterです。 |
たとえば:
| Leila:あなたは何なんWhat才さいAge/ age counterですか。 How old are you? Mika:私は二十一才じゅういっさい21さいAge/ age counterです。 I am 21 years old. |
Here’s some divergent numbers when counting age in 日本語!
Notes:
20 is a special age in 日本, at 20 you are considered an 大人. Therefore, it uses a special word, ‘はたち’.
Ages ending in 1 are いっさい, not いちさい.
4 is よん and 7 is なな when counting age.
Other things you may hear:
You may hear ‘おいくつですか’, a more formal way of asking ‘how old are you?’. When learning 日本語, the standard is to learn ‘なんさいですか’, which is what I recommend memorising, and it’s what we’ll use in this course! However, if you want to be extra careful, go ahead and memorise ‘おいくつですか’ as an extra phrase!
The response to this is still ‘x’ さいです!