Chinese word

年纪

Pronunciation

Pinyinnián jì

Meaning

  • nounage

Example

你多大年纪了？nǐ duō dà nián jì le

How old are you?

Illustration for 年纪 (age)

More examples

她年纪轻轻就开始工作了。tā nián jì qīng qīng jiù kāi shǐ gōng zuò le

She started working at a very young age.

Core concept

A person's lived years gathered into one measure of where they are in life.

Common phrases

  • 年纪轻轻nián jì qīng qīng

    very young

  • 年纪小nián jì xiǎo

    young

Similar words

岁suì: Placed after a number to give a person's age in years.
年龄nián líng: A formal term for the number of years a person has lived.
岁数suì shù: An informal noun for the number of years a person has lived.

Definition in Chinese

用来表示人的年龄，指从出生到现在所度过的年数或岁数。yòng lái biǎo shì rén de nián líng zhǐ cóng chū shēng dào xiàn zài suǒ dù guò de nián shù huò suì shù

Word origin

年纪 (niánjì, "age") is formed from 年 (nián, "year") plus 纪 (jì, "record or sequence"), so its structure treats age as an ordered record of years.

Usage tips

  • English normally uses an adjective in age questions, while Chinese commonly places this noun after the quantity being asked about.

Word lists with this word