तपाईं कति वर्षको हुनुभयो?
tapāī̃ kati varṣako hunubhayo?
The English phrase "how old are you?" is translated into Nepali as तपाईं कति वर्षको हुनुभयो? (tapāī̃ kati varṣako hunubhayo?)
This phrase is used to ask a person about their age.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is built from several parts: कति (kati) means "how many" or "how much", and वर्षको (varṣako) is a combination of वर्ष (year) and the possessive particle को (of), meaning "of years".
Which one should you use?
The phrases differ based on the level of respect shown to the person being addressed. तपाईं कति वर्षको हुनुभयो? is the polite standard, while तिमी कति वर्षको भयौ? is an informal version and तँ कति वर्षको भइस्? is the lowest honorific version.
How does it change in a sentence?
The default form तपाईं कति वर्षको हुनुभयो? uses the honorific pronoun तपाईं (tapāī̃) and the honorific verb form हुनुभयो (hunubhayo) to maintain a polite tone.
How do you pronounce it?
tapāī̃ kati varṣako hunubhayo?
Did you know?
- In Nepal, asking someone's age is often a way to determine which honorific pronoun to use, such as तपाईं or तिमी, rather than just curiosity about their birth date.
- Because Nepali culture values seniority, a person may be addressed by a kinship term like 'Dai' (older brother) or 'Didi' (older sister) even if they are not related, based on the age revealed by this question.
- While तपाईं कति वर्षको हुनुभयो? is the standard polite form, there is an even higher level of respect called 'royal honorific' used for extremely high-ranking figures or deities.
Example conversation
Maya and Roshan are meeting for the first time at a community event.
- माया Mayaनमस्ते, तपाईंको नाम के हो?Namaste, tapāī̃ko nāma ke ho?Hello, what is your name?
- रोशन Roshanनमस्ते, मेरो नाम रोशन हो।Namaste, mero nāma Roshan ho.Hello, my name is Roshan.
- माया Mayaरोशन, तपाईं कति वर्षको हुनुभयो?Roshan, tapāī̃ kati varshako hunubhayo?Roshan, how old are you?
- रोशन Roshanम बीस वर्षको भएँ।Ma bīs varshako bhaē̃.I am twenty years old.
