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Mythic Mandarin

How old are you?

HSK 1 Unit 2: Family and age · Lesson 2 of 5 · About 15 minutes

Preview version — Chinese review in progress.

Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can give your age with 岁, ask a child's age and an adult's age, and talk about sons and daughters.

Warm-up: do you remember?

Two quick questions from earlier lessons. Recalling before you learn makes the new material stick.

  1. Meaning

    What does 两 mean?

    1. country
    2. what
    3. two (before a measure word)
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, two (before a measure word).

    两 (liǎng) means two (before a measure word).

  2. Characters

    Which word means “older brother”?

    1. 什么
    2. 哥哥
    3. 高兴
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 哥哥.

    “older brother” is 哥哥 (gēge).

  3. Listening

    From an earlier unit. Listen. What does the word mean?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    学生 xuésheng

    1. student
    2. the United States
    3. very
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, student.

    You heard 学生 (xuésheng): student.

New words

  • 岁suìyear (of age)
  • 多duōhow (+ adjective)
  • 孩子háizichild
  • 儿子érzison
  • 女儿nǚ'érdaughter

Saying your age

Age is a number plus 岁 (suì). No verb is needed: 我三十岁 means I am thirty.

  • 我三十岁。

    Wǒ sānshí suì.

    I am thirty.

  • 我儿子八岁。

    Wǒ érzi bā suì.

    My son is eight.

  • Not: 我有三十岁。

    But: 我三十岁。 Wǒ sānshí suì.

    Chinese does not have years, as French or Spanish do: no 有.

Asking someone's age

There are two common questions. For a child, ask with 几 (expecting a small number). For an adult, ask 你多大？, literally how big are you.

Asking age
WhoQuestion
a child你几岁？ How old are you?
an adult你多大？ How old are you?

多 + adjective asks how much: 多大, how big or how old.

  • 你女儿几岁？

    Nǐ nǚ'ér jǐ suì?

    How old is your daughter?

  • 你有孩子吗？

    Nǐ yǒu háizi ma?

    Do you have children?

Characters

  • 孩 = 子

Open a character to see how it is written, stroke by stroke, with its meanings and words.

Children

David and Liu Fang talk in a park while her children play.

Listen first

Play the whole conversation and answer the questions before you open the transcript.

  1. Listening

    Listen first. How old is Liu Fang's daughter?

    1. eight
    2. five
    3. thirty-four
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, five.

    刘芳 says 女儿五岁: five.

  2. Listening

    Which question does Liu Fang use to ask David's age?

    1. 你多大？
    2. 你几岁？
    3. 你有孩子吗？
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 你多大？.

    你多大？: 你多大 is the question for an adult.

Show the transcript
Pinyin
Translation

  1. 大卫

    刘芳Liú Fāng，你nǐ有yǒu孩子háizi吗ma？

    Liu Fang, do you have children?

  2. 刘芳

    有Yǒu，我wǒ有yǒu一yí个gè儿子érzi和hé一yí个gè女儿nǚ'ér。

    Yes, I have a son and a daughter.

  3. 大卫

    他们Tāmen几jǐ岁suì？

    How old are they?

  4. 刘芳

    儿子Érzi八bā岁suì，女儿nǚ'ér五wǔ岁suì。你Nǐ呢ne？你Nǐ多duō大dà？

    My son is eight and my daughter is five. And you? How old are you?

  5. 大卫

    我Wǒ三十四sānshísì岁suì。我Wǒ没有méiyǒu孩子háizi。

    I'm thirty-four. I don't have children.

Speak: listen, record, compare

Listen to each model, record yourself, then play both and compare: the rhythm, the tones, the vowels. No automatic score: your ear is the judge.

  • 儿子八岁，女儿五岁。你呢？你多大？

    Érzi bā suì, nǚ'ér wǔ suì. Nǐ ne? Nǐ duō dà?

    My son is eight and my daughter is five. And you? How old are you?

  • 我三十四岁。我没有孩子。

    Wǒ sānshísì suì. Wǒ méiyǒu háizi.

    I'm thirty-four. I don't have children.

  • 有，我有一个儿子和一个女儿。

    Yǒu, wǒ yǒu yí gè érzi hé yí gè nǚ'ér.

    Yes, I have a son and a daughter.

Practice

  1. Meaning

    What does 岁 mean?

    1. year (of age)
    2. teacher
    3. how many, how much
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, year (of age).

    岁 (suì) means year (of age).

  2. Characters

    Which word means “how (+ adjective)”?

    1. 的
    2. 那
    3. 多
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 多.

    “how (+ adjective)” is 多 (duō).

  3. Pinyin

    How do you read 孩子 (child)?

    1. hǎizi
    2. háizi
    3. háizí
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, háizi.

    孩子 is read háizi. Check the tone mark on every syllable.

  4. Listening

    Listen. What does the word mean?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    儿子 érzi

    1. son
    2. you're welcome
    3. kuai (unit of money, spoken)
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, son.

    You heard 儿子 (érzi): son.

  5. Pinyin

    Type the pinyin of 女儿 (daughter). Tone marks or tone numbers are welcome.

    Show the answer

    Answer: nǚ'ér

    女儿 is nǚ'ér in pinyin.

  6. Grammar

    How do you say I am twenty-five?

    1. 我有二十五岁。
    2. 我岁二十五。
    3. 我二十五岁。
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 我二十五岁。.

    我二十五岁。 Number + 岁, no verb.

  7. In context

    You want to ask a little girl her age. What do you say?

    1. 你几岁？
    2. 你多大？
    3. 你是谁？
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 你几岁？.

    你几岁？: 你几岁: for a child, ask with 几.

  8. Fill the gap

    Complete: How old is your son?

    你儿子＿＿岁？

    1. 几
    2. 多少
    3. 吗
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 几.

    你儿子几岁？ 几 asks for a small number.

  9. Your turn

    Type the Chinese for How old are you? (to an adult)

    Show the answer

    Answer: 你多大

    你多大: how old are you, to an adult.

Ages in your family

Say the ages of three people in your family out loud.

  1. Say your age: 我…岁。
  2. Say two family members' ages: 我妈妈…岁。
  3. Ask a friend: 你多大？

Sentence frames

  • 我＿＿＿＿岁。

    Wǒ ＿＿ suì.

    My ... is ... years old.

Record your attempt (three and a half minutes at most) and listen back:

Review and finish

Can you do this? If a line feels shaky, go back to that part before you move on.

  • I say my age with 岁 and no verb.
  • I ask a child 你几岁？ and an adult 你多大？
  • I can say 儿子, 女儿 and 孩子.

Review works best spaced out: answer these exercises again tomorrow, then after a few days. Your progress is saved in this browser.

Completing records that you finished the lesson. Mastery is separate: it grows as reviews bring the exercises back and you answer them correctly.

Next lesson: What do you do?