15歳です
jūgosai desu
To say I am fifteen years old in Japanese, say 15歳です (jūgosai desu).
15歳です is the usual polite way to state your age. The full form with the pronoun is 私は１５歳です。
What does it mean word for word?
15 is the number, 歳 (sai) is the counter for years of age and です is the polite copula.
Which one should you use?
俺は１５歳だ。 is a casual version, with 俺, a word for I used mostly by male speakers.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
Replacing です with だ to get 15歳だ makes the statement informal and casual.
How does it change in a sentence?
For I was fifteen, change です to でした: 15歳でした. For I am not fifteen, use 15歳ではありません.
How do you pronounce it?
It is romanized jūgosai desu.
Did you know?
- In traditional Japanese culture, people sometimes calculated their age using the kazoedoshi system, which counted the time spent in the womb as the first year of life.
- If you were to say your age in a very formal business setting, you might use the honorific counter 御歳 (o-toshi) instead of 歳 (sai) when referring to someone else's age.
- The word 歳 can be read as toshi when referring to a person's zodiac sign, as the Japanese zodiac rotates every twelve years.
Examples in context
- 私は１５歳です。I am fifteen years old.
- 中学3年生で、15歳です。Chūgaku san-nen sei de, jūgo-sai desu.I am a third-year junior high student and fifteen years old.
Example conversation
Two students are introducing themselves in a new school class.
- 美咲 Misaki美咲です。15歳です。Misaki desu. Jūgo-sai desu.I am Misaki. I am fifteen years old.
- 健太 Kenta僕は健太です。15歳です。Boku wa Kenta desu. Jūgo-sai desu.I am Kenta. I am fifteen years old.
- 美咲 Misaki同じ年齢ですね。Onaji nenrei desu ne.We are the same age, aren't we?
- 健太 Kentaそうですね。よろしくお願いします。Sō desu ne. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.That's right. Nice to meet you.
