“How old are you” in Chinese: how to say it and how to write it
How old are you?
“How old are you?” in Chinese is 你多大了？, nǐ duō dà le — roughly “nee dwaw dah luh”. Literally it is “you how big (by) now?”: Chinese asks about age with the word “big”, not “old”, and there is no word for “years” in the question at all.
How to ask someone’s age in Chinese
- 你多大了？nǐduōdàlehow old are you?to someone your age or younger
- 你几岁了？nǐjǐsuìlehow old are you? (to a child)only to children
- 您多大年纪？nínduōdàniánjìmay I ask your age?to an older person
- 您高寿？níngāoshòuhow old are you, sir / madam?to the very old
Which question you use depends on who you are talking to. 你多大了 works for people about your age or younger; people often add “this year”: . 你几岁了 is for children only: 几 asks about a small number, roughly up to ten, so asking an adult this way sounds odd — a bit like “how many years old are you, little one?”
With older people everything changes: the polite 您 instead of 你, and 年纪, “age (of a person)”, instead of 大. 您高寿 is a bookish, very respectful formula: 寿 means “long life”. It is for people well past seventy; someone around fifty might take it badly. When in doubt, use 您多大年纪.
How to pronounce 你多大了
nǐ is third tone, low. duō is first tone, high and level; it is one syllable, “dwaw”, not “doo-oh”. dà is fourth, a sharp drop, with the “a” of “father”. le is a light, toneless syllable — short and quiet, like the “uh” in “duh”. The particle 了 adds a shade of “by now, already”; the question is correct without it too, just a bit drier. How the tones work is explained in “Chinese tones”.
How to write 你多大了
- 你nǐyou
- 多duōmany; how (much)
- 大dàbig
- 了leparticle “already”
Four characters, all from the first lessons. 多 in front of an adjective turns into the question “how…?”: 多大 is “how big”, which for a person means “how old”. The same words about a flat ask “how big is it?”. 大 is a little person with arms spread wide — three strokes. You can practice writing the phrase in the writing worksheets.
How to answer: “I’m twenty”
- 我二十岁。wǒèrshísuìI’m twenty (years old)
- 我今年二十岁。wǒjīnniánèrshísuìI’m twenty this year
The pattern is always “I” + number + 岁 (suì, “year of age”). No verb: not even “am”. Literally it is “I twenty years”. And 岁 never changes — one year, twenty years, it is always suì, with no plural. Put in your own number; how to count to a hundred is shown in “Numbers in Chinese”.
Is it rude to ask someone’s age in China?
Generally less so than in many Western countries: age decides how you address a person and who counts as senior, so the question comes up early. Still, it is not a rule without exceptions — with a woman you barely know or with your boss, don’t open with it. There is a roundabout way, too: — from the animal of the twelve-year cycle, the age is easy to work out.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “how old are you” in Chinese?
“How old are you” in Chinese is 你多大了, in pinyin nǐ duō dà le.
How do you pronounce 你多大了?
你多大了 is read nǐ duō dà le. The marks over the vowels are the tones: each syllable has its own melody, so listen to the recording on this page and repeat it.
How do you write “how old are you” in Chinese characters?
你多大了 is 4 characters. What each one means and how the phrase is put together is explained on this page.
What does 你多大了 mean?
你多大了 (nǐ duō dà le) means “how old are you”.
Learn to say your age
Numbers, tones and your first questions come up in the very first lessons: you hear them, say them and get checked. Free during the beta.
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