l'âge de quelqu'un
To talk about how old someone is, meaning the number of years a person has lived, French says l'âge de quelqu'un, literally the age of someone.
l'âge de quelqu'un names a person's age as a thing, for example on a form or when you talk about age in general. To ask the question how old is someone, French uses quel âge a quelqu'un.
What does it mean word for word?
l'âge means the age and de quelqu'un means of someone.
How does it change in a sentence?
âge is a masculine noun that starts with a vowel, so the article le becomes l'. When asking or stating age, French uses the verb avoir, to have, not être, to be.
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often use être to state age, as in English I am ten years old. In French you must use avoir, saying that you have a number of years.
Did you know?
- In French culture, asking Quel âge avez-vous ? to an adult or superior can be perceived as surprisingly intrusive compared to the same question in English.
- In very formal or legal contexts, French may use the expression être âgé de to describe age, which allows the use of the verb être ('to be') that is normally avoided.
- While French uses avoir to state age, English is one of the few languages that uses 'to be'. Most other Romance languages, such as Spanish and Italian, also treat age as something you possess rather than something you are.
Examples in context
- Excusez-moi, pourriez-vous me dire quel âge vous avez ?Excuse me, could you please tell me how old you are?
- Pouvez-vous m'indiquer votre âge, s'il vous plaît ?Can you please indicate your age?
- Je suis âgé(e) de X ans.I am X years old.
- Tu as quel âge ?How old are you?
- Quel âge tu as ?What's your age?
- Je ne sais pas quel âge il a.I don't know how old he is.
- L'âge de quelqu'un peut être un secret.Someone's age can be a secret.
- Il est difficile de deviner l'âge de quelqu'un.It is difficult to guess someone's age.
