tenía años
/tenia aɲos/from spelling rules
The English phrase "I was years old" is translated into Spanish as tenía años.
This phrase is used to state a person's age at a specific time in the past.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase literally translates to "I had years" because Spanish uses the verb tener (to have) rather than ser (to be) to express age.
How does it change in a sentence?
To specify a number, you must place the number between the verb and the word años, for example: tenía diez años (I was ten years old).
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly use the verb ser (era) to express age, but in Spanish, you must use tener (tenía).
Did you know?
- In Spanish, you do not say 'old' when stating age. Adding the word viejo to tenía diez años would imply the person was prematurely aged or acting like an old person at ten.
- In many Spanish-speaking regions, if you are talking about your age in a very casual way, you might even omit the word años entirely and just say tenía diez.
- The concept of 'having' age is shared by other Romance languages, such as French using avoir (to have) in j'avais dix ans.
Examples in context
- Tenía 10 añosI was 10 years old
- Contaba con 15 añosI was 15 years old
- Yo tenía 8 añosI was 8 years old
- En aquel entonces tenía 20 añosBack then, I was 20 years old
- Tenía 12 años cuando me mudé a España.I was 12 years old when I moved to Spain.
- Contaba con 18 años en mi primer día de universidad.I was 18 years old on my first day of university.
- Yo tenía 6 años cuando aprendí a andar en bicicleta.I was 6 years old when I learned to ride a bicycle.
- En aquel entonces tenía 30 años y aún pensaba que era joven.Back then, I was 30 years old and still thought I was young.
Example conversation
María and Daniel are looking at old family photos.
- MaríaMira esta foto, yo tenía ocho años aquí.Look at this photo, I was eight years old here.
- Daniel¡Qué pequeña eras, María!You were so small, María!
- MaríaSí, tenía años muy felices en ese pueblo.Yes, I had very happy years in that town.
- DanielSe nota que estabas muy contenta.It shows that you were very happy.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
