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Lesson 24 / 166
🌸 Japanese Topic 24初級🌱 Beginner

人数年齢

Ninzu to Nenrei

People and Age

🌸 Counting People and Stating Age 🌸

1

💬 Dialogue

ケン:田中さんは何歳ですか。

Tanaka-san wa nansai desu ka.

How old are you, Mr. Tanaka?

田中:わたしは二十五歳です。

Watashi wa nijugo-sai desu.

I am twenty-five years old.

ケン:ご家族は何人ですか。

Gokazoku wa nannin desu ka.

How many people are in your family?

田中:四人です。妻と子供が二人います。

Yonin desu. Tsuma to kodomo ga futari imasu.

Four people. My wife and two children.

ケン:お子さんは何歳ですか。

Okosan wa nansai desu ka.

How old are your children?

田中:上の子は三歳で、下の子は一歳です。

Ue no ko wa sansai de, shita no ko wa issai desu.

The older one is three, and the younger one is one.

2

📖 Vocabulary

5 words
〜さい-saiyears old
〜にん-ninpeople (counter)
ひとりhitorione person
ふたりfutaritwo people
なんさいnansaihow old
3

Key Sentence

A は X 歳 / X 人 です。

A wa X-sai / X-nin desu.

A is X years old / A is X people.

  • Pattern: [A] は [Number] 歳/人 です。
  • Meaning: Expressing age and number of people.
わたしは二十歳です。

Watashi wa hatachi desu.

I am 20 years old.

家族は三人です。

Kazoku wa sannin desu.

There are three people in my family.

4

🎓 Explanation

To express age in Japanese, we use the counter 〜歳 (sai). Note that 20 years old is a special case called hatachi.

To count people, we use the counter 〜人 (nin). However, one person (hitori) and two people (futari) are irregular.

For four people, we say yonin (not shinin).

Nansai desu ka?
= 'How old are you?'

Kazoku wa yonin desu.
= 'There are four people in my family.'

5

📝 Quiz

How do you say 'two people' in Japanese?