tengo diecinueve años
/tenɡo djeθinwebe aɲos/from spelling rules
To say "I am nineteen years old" in Spanish, you say tengo diecinueve años.
This phrase is used to communicate that a person has lived for nineteen years.
What does it mean word for word?
Literally, the phrase translates to "I have nineteen years".
How does it change in a sentence?
In Spanish, you use the verb tener (to have) to express age rather than the verb ser (to be).
How do you pronounce it?
/tenɡo djeθinwebe aɲos/
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly say soy diecinueve años by using the verb ser (soy) instead of tener (tengo).
Did you know?
- Beyond age, Spanish uses tener for several physical and emotional states that English expresses with 'to be', such as tener hambre for 'to be hungry' and tener sed for 'to be thirsty'.
- If you accidentally use soy instead of tengo, you are not just making a grammar mistake but are literally claiming to be the personification of the number nineteen.
- In traditional Spanish poetry, a writer might avoid saying años and instead use inviernos to describe someone's age, metaphorically counting the winters they have survived.
Examples in context
- Todavía tengo diecinueve años.I am still nineteen years old.
- No, yo tengo diecinueve años.No, I am nineteen years old.
Example conversation
Elena and Javier are meeting for the first time at a party.
- ElenaHola, soy Elena. ¿Cuántos años tienes?Hi, I'm Elena. How old are you?
- JavierHola Elena, yo tengo veinte años.Hi Elena, I am twenty years old.
- ElenaYo tengo diecinueve años.I am nineteen years old.
- Javier¡Qué bien! Somos casi de la misma edad.That's great! We are almost the same age.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
