Chinese word

岁

Pronunciation

Pinyinsuì

Meaning

  • measure wordyears old

Example

妈妈今年五十岁了。mā mā jīn nián wǔ shí suì le

Mom is fifty years old this year.

Illustration for 岁 (years old)

More examples

我妹妹三岁，很可爱。wǒ mèi mèi sān suì hěn kě ài

My little sister is three years old and very cute.

Core concept

A counted turn of the calendar that measures a person's age or the time that has passed.

Common phrases

  • 几岁jǐ suì

    how old

  • 一岁yí suì

    one year old

  • 岁了suì le

    years old now

Similar words

年nián: Placed after a number, counts years or states how many years a period lasts.
个gè: A general measure word placed after a number to count people or things.
个月gè yuè: Placed after a number, measures a period lasting a certain number of months.

Definition in Chinese

作为表示年龄的量词，通常跟在数字后面，用来说明人的岁数，也可用于表示经过的年数。zuò wéi biǎo shì nián líng de liàng cí tōng cháng gēn zài shù zì hòu miàn yòng lái shuō míng rén de suì shù yě kě yòng yú biǎo shì jīng guò de nián shù

Word origin

The traditional form 歲 (suì, "year") named a yearly cycle, and counting those cycles became a way to express age and other elapsed years.

Usage tips

  • After a number, 岁 (suì, "years old") normally stands on its own rather than taking 个 (gè, "general measure word"), so number + 岁 is a useful age pattern.

Related words

Word lists with this word