Age with "sui"

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 don't need the verb 是 (shì) in any of these sentences, and you don't need a measure word like 个 (gè) either. In fact, it would be incorrect to use either of those with 岁 (suì):

• 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.

See Also

• Word order
• Simple "noun + adjective" sentences

Sources and further reading

• Short-term Spoken Chinese: Intermediate (汉语口语速成中级篇) Chapter 10
• New Concept Chinese (新概念汉语 初级本I) Chapter 5