I know it’s been awhile, but I’m back & ready for the next part! Today I’ll be covering age, along with asking & answering how old you are.

On the basic level, you say the number of years you are the then add さい (sai.)  If you’re 10 yeah old it’d be じゅうさう (juusai)

As always, there are exceptions. 20 when counting is nijuu, but as an age it gets a special name. Hatachi is used to describe 20-year-olds (this is like turning 18 in the U.S.) since this is the age when people are officially adults.

In Japan at the beginning of the year a person will turn 20, there’s a big celebration for all of them, even though it my not be their birthday yet.

I’m not going to re-type the 1-20 chart again, but here’s the numbers (1-20) post if you need  refresher.

We’re going to skip ahead with some words I haven’t done yet, but don’t fret too much ^_^

So how do you ask someone’s age?

How old are you?
なん さい です か
Nan sai desu ka?

To answer:
I am ____ years old.
わたし は ___さい です*
watashi wa___sai desu

For example, I’m 23, so I’d say:
わたし は にじゅうさん さいです*
Watashi wa nijuusan sai desu.

However, in Japanese it’s completely acceptable to leave you the “I” part & just say “23 years old.” We do this in English as well.

So I could also say “nijuusan sai desu”

I found this nifty video that is done by Yuu Asakura @ Expert Village.
I’m going to try & get these for my posts as we go along, so you can hear a native speaker.

How to Ask & Tell Your Age in Japanese — powered by eHow.com

** If you picked up that it is actually written watashi HA, good for you! You know you’re hiragana! However, in situations liek these, itis pronounced wa, & that will be covered in a later lesson.