Chinese Numbers Explained
Before going on to higher numbers let's briefly look at another common application, age:
. Now that you know numbers up to 999 you can probably say the age of anyone you are likely to meet, or even most biblical characters! Expressing age is straightforward, Just remember not to try to slip 是 or 有 in there, just say "subject" "number" "years":
| Expressing Age |
|---|
| I | forty-two | years |
| 我 | 四 | 十 | 二 | 岁 |
| wǒ | sì | shí | èr | suì |
If you're talking about young children, 'half-years' will frequently come up:
| Two and a half |
|---|
| she | two | years | half |
| 她 | 两 | 岁 | 半 |
| tā | liǎng | suì | bàn |
How To Ask About Someone's Age
It's actually tricker to ask someone's age than to say the age. First off, be careful in general about asking someone's age, it may be considered impolite. If you do ask, how you do it depends mostly on the age of the person you are asking. For children (up to and maybe including the low teens):
| Asking Age: Children |
|---|
| you | how | old |
| 你 | 几 | 岁 |
| nǐ | jǐ | suì |
For most adults, it's expressed a little differently:
| Asking Age: Adults |
|---|
| you | how many | years |
| 你 | 多 | 少 | 岁 |
| nǐ | duō | shǎo | suì |
The difference is that 几 refers to only a few of something (generally less than 10) and with 多少 the answer could be much larger.
And then there is a more casual way to ask:
| Asking Age: Casual |
|---|
| you | how | old |
| 你 | 多 | 大 |
| nǐ | duō | dà |
Finally, there is a very formal, polite way to ask:
| Asking Age: Formal |
|---|
| you | how old |
| 您 | 贵庚 |
| nín | guì gēng |
How Do I Talk About Age Differences?
If you want to talk about age differences you can use , which means "compared to". Check out these examples:
| How much older are you than little brother? |
|---|
| You | (compare) | little brother | older | how many | years |
| 你 | 比 | 妹妹 | 大 | 几 | 岁 |
| nǐ | bǐ | dì dì | dà | jǐ | suì |
| I am 4 years older than little sister |
|---|
| I | (compare) | little sister | older | four | years |
| 我 | 比 | 妹妹 | 大 | 四 | 岁 |
| wǒ | bǐ | mèi mèi | dà | sì | suì |
| I am 3 years younger than big brother |
|---|
| I | (compare) | big brother | older | four | years |
| 我 | 比 | 哥哥 | 小 | 三 | 岁 |
| wǒ | bǐ | gē gē | xiǎo | sān | suì |
For more, check out the expressing age difference entry in the Chinese Grammar Wiki.
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Copyright © 2020 David Richmond
