How old are you in Spanish?
In this very post we are going to learn a new verb. A very common question in a Spanish mind would be how old are you. Even though in many cultures it can be rude to ask the age, it is a very normal thing in our way of communicating. In Spanish there is nothing bad about asking a person’s age, so, we do the same when speaking in English without really thinking about the cultural circumstances (our bad).
Eventually, we have seen people from certain cultures not feeling that right when we ask so.
However, in Spanish speaking countries, asking the age of a person is completely fine, even in the first place.
Let’s see them how do we build the question:
¿CUÁNTOS AÑOS TIENES?
HOW MANY YEARS DO YOU HAVE?
As we can see, we have our very own expression to ask a person’s age. Instead of using the verb To Be (how old are you?), we use the verb To Have (Tener) and we tell the years that we possess. Here it is the verb Tener conjugated:
TENER IS THE VERB TO HAVE IN SPANISH
|
PERSONAL PRONOUN |
PRONOMBRE PERSONAL |
TO HAVE |
TENER |
|
I |
YO |
HAVE |
TENGO |
|
YOU |
TÚ |
HAVE |
TIENES |
|
YOU (FORMAL) |
USTED |
HAVE |
TIENE |
|
HE |
ÉL |
HAS |
TIENE |
|
SHE |
ELLA |
HAS |
TIENE |
|
WE |
NOSOTROS |
HAVE |
TENEMOS |
|
YOU(ALL) |
VOSOTROS |
HAVE |
TENÉIS |
|
YOU (ALL FORMAL) |
USTEDES |
HAVE |
TIENEN |
|
THEY (MASCULINE) FOR GUYS |
ELLOS |
HAVE |
TIENEN |
|
THEY (FEMININE) FOR GIRLS |
ELLAS |
HAVE |
TIENEN |
Therefore:
¿CUÁNTOS AÑOS TIENES?
HOW MANY YEARS DO YOU HAVE?
- I HAVE …YEARS
- YO TENGO…AÑOS
♥ In the following section, we are going to learn how to count up to 100 clearly.
Numbers in Spanish
As we said previously, here comes a table with the numbers counting up to 100.
1-10
|
1 UNO |
6 SEIS |
|
2 DOS |
7 SIETE |
|
3 TRES |
8 OCHO |
|
4 CUATRO |
9 NUEVE |
|
5 CINCO |
10 DIEZ |
11-20
|
11 ONCE |
16 DIECISÉIS |
|
12 DOCE |
17 DIECISIETE |
|
13 TRECE |
18 DIECIOCHO |
|
14 CATORCE |
19 DIECINUEVE |
|
15 QUINCE |
20 VEINTE |
21-30
|
21 VEINTIUNO |
26 VEINTISÉIS |
|
22 VEINTIDÓS |
27 VEINTISIETE |
|
23 VEINTITRÉS |
28 VEINTIOCHO |
|
24 VEINTICUATRO |
29 VEINTINUEVE |
|
25 VEINTICINCO |
30 TREINTA |
◊ Up to 30, as we can see it is only one word so we do have to learn the whole word. From 30 on, once knowing the 30, 40, 50, 60….so on, it is just a matter of adding Y (and) plus another single number. Let’s see with 30.
34 ⇔ TREINTA Y CUATRO (Thirty and four)
38 ⇔ TREINTA Y OCHO (Thirty and eight)
◊ Accordingly, let’s see the 40,50,60,70…:
|
40 CUARENTA |
|
50 CINCUENTA |
|
60 SESENTA |
|
70 SETENTA |
|
80 OCHENTA |
|
90 NOVENTA |
|
100 CIEN |
Therefore, following the explanation above:
65 ⇔ SESENTA Y CINCO (Sixty and five)
89 ⇔ OCHENTA Y NUEVE (Eighty and nine)
47 ⇔ CUARENTA Y SIETE (Forty and seven)
77 ⇔ SETENTA Y SIETE (Seventy and seven)
51 ⇔ CINCUENTA Y UNO (Fifty and one)
42 ⇔ CUARENTA Y DOS (Forty and two)
96 ⇔ NOVENTA Y SEIS (Ninety and six)
How old are you in Spanish then?
♥ We have already all what is needed to be able to tell our age:
¿CUÁNTOS AÑOS TIENES?
HOW MANY YEARS DO YOU HAVE?
- I HAVE 36 YEARS
- YO TENGO 36 AÑOS
¿CUÁNTOS AÑOS TIENE SARA?
HOW MANY YEARS DOES SARA HAVE?
- SARA HAS 36 YEARS
- YO TIENE 36 AÑOS
¿CUÁNTOS AÑOS TIENE USTED?
HOW MANY YEARS DO YOU (FORMAL) HAVE¿?
- I HAVE 72 YEARS
- YO TENGO 72 AÑOS
What is your age in Spanish?
There is another way of asking somebody’s age; It is more in a formal context, but, it can be used also in a colloquial way talking to a friend or just to random people.
Using the verb To Have, that we have seen previously, and, changing the interrogative pronoun:
¿QUÉ EDAD TIENES?
WHAT AGE DO YOU HAVE?
- I HAVE 36 YEARS
- YO TENGO 36 AÑOS
♣ To ask in a formal way, as we know, we have to conjugate the verb in 3rd person:
¿QUÉ EDAD TIENE?
WHAT AGE DO YOU (FORMAL) HAVE?
- I HAVE 36 YEARS
- YO TENGO 36 AÑOS
