tengo diecisiete años
/tenɡo djeθisjete aɲos/from spelling rules
To say "I am seventeen years old" in Spanish, use tengo diecisiete años.
This phrase is used to communicate your current age. In Spanish, you do not say that you *are* a certain age, but rather that you *have* a certain number of years.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase literally translates to "I have seventeen years". tengo is the first-person singular conjugation of the verb tener, which means "to have" and diecisiete is the number "seventeen".
How does it change in a sentence?
When expressing age, Spanish uses the verb tener (to have) rather than the verb ser (to be). The number diecisiete is written as a single word.
How do you pronounce it?
/tenɡo djeθisjete aɲos/
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly say soy diecisiete años by attempting to translate "I am" directly. Avoid using soy (from the verb ser) to express age.
Did you know?
- In Spanish, you can use the same verb tener to describe being hungry, thirsty or cold, treating these sensations like the possession of age.
- The word diecisiete is a linguistic fossil that preserves an older version of the word 'and', i, which was later replaced by y in modern Spanish.
- If you want to say you are 'turning' seventeen, you use the verb cumplir instead of tener. While tengo diecisiete años means you already are that age, cumplo diecisiete años describes the act of reaching that milestone.
Examples in context
- Sí, tengo diecisiete años ahora.Yes, I am seventeen years old now.
Example conversation
Sofía and Mateo are meeting for the first time at school.
- SofíaHola, soy Sofía. ¿Cuántos años tienes?Hi, I'm Sofía. How old are you?
- MateoHola, soy Mateo y tengo diecisiete años.Hi, I'm Mateo and I am seventeen years old.
- Sofía¡Qué bien! Yo también tengo diecisiete años.That's great! I am also seventeen years old.
- MateoEntonces somos de la misma edad.Then we are the same age.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries diecisiete, CC BY-SA 4.0.
