How To Ask “How Old Are You” In Different Languages

Blog
19 December 2023
By Sarah Angela Almaden
Japanese House

Unsplash: Surface

Happy birthday! So, how old are you now?” – Ugh, I don't know about you but those sentences always seem to go together like Christmas and a funky sweater. Asking someone the question “How old are you” or its other versions in other languages seems so innocent and harmless. However, others do find this question quite insensitive and uncomfortable.

And that’s totally okay because the whole topic of age can be a scary thing to talk about. So, just remember that however one feels about this topic makes sense. At the same time, it is very important to recognize the different feelings people feel after hearing this comment.

Sidebar: sometimes, though, it is quite challenging to avoid the question in various situations. For example, in South Korea, this is one of the first batch of questions you usually hear. People in South Korea ask for your age to determine how to address you. Now, on the other hand, it is also very possible that you might hear this question tossed around in airports and airlines. Most of the time this is asked for security purposes and extra assistance if needed.

  • English: How old are you? (how ar yoo)
  • French: Quel âge avez-vous? (kel ahj ah-vey voo)
  • Korean: 몇살이세요? (myeochsal-iseyo)
  • Indonesian: Berapa usia Anda? (beh-rah-pah oo-see-ah an-dah)
  • Japanese: なんさいですか? (nan saidesu ka)
  • German: Wie alt sind Sie? (fee alt sind see)
  • Spanish: ¿Cuántos años tienes? (kwan-tos an-yos tye-nes)
  • Italian: Quanti anni hai? (kwan-ti ahn-ni ai)
  • Tagalog: Ilang taon ka na? (ee-lang ta-on ka-na)
  • Polish: Ile masz lat? (ee-leh mash lat)
  • Turkish: Kaç yaşındasınız? (katch ya-shin-duh-suh-nuz)
  • Dutch: Hoe oud bent u? (hoo owd bent u)
  • Swedish: Hur gammal är du? (hoor gam-mal air du)
  • Norwegian: Hvor gammel er du? (vor gam-mel air do)
  • Hindi: आपकी क्या उम्र है? (aapakee kya umr hai)
  • Danish: Hvor gammel er du? (vor gam-mel air do)
  • Greek: Πόσο χρονών είσαι; (póso chronón eísai)
  • Swahili: Una miaka mingapi? (oo-na mi-ah-ka mee-nga-pi)
  • Mandarin Chinese: 你多大了? (nǐ duōdàle)