Expressing Year and Age in Mandarin

Expressing the Year

To express the year in Mandarin, you just need to read the number one by one plus the word nian which means year. For the year 1994, 一九九四年 (Yī jiǔ jiǔ sì nián), 2017年, 二零一七 (èr líng yī qī nián). If you want to express the whole year and date, in contrast to English, you start with the year, month, date, day of the week, part of the day, hour, minute. The larger unit always precedes the smaller one.

For example:
Saturday Afternoon 3.15 pm, December 30th 2017.

In Mandarin you read this way:

2017 December 30 Saturday Afternoon 3 o’clock 15 minutes.

2017年 12月 30号星期六下午3点15

二零一七 年十二月三十号号星期六下午三点十五分。

èr líng yī qī nián shí’èr yuè sānshí hào xīngqíliù xiàwǔ sān diǎn shíwǔ fēn.

The word 年 (nián) can also be used to express the duration time. For example 1年/一年(wǔ nián)= one year. Let’s see the usage in sentence:

他会在美国带一年。Tā huì zài Měiguó dài yī nián.

The duration time is normally put after the verb, 带(dài).

There five words that end with 年 (nián) that you should know.

前年(qián nián)= the year before last year, 去年 (qùnián)=last year, 今年 (jīnnián)= this year, 明年 (míngnián)=next year, 后年= the year after next year (hòu nián).

Let’s compare:

前天(qiántiān)= the day before yesterday, 昨天 (zuótiān)=yesterday, 今天 (jīntiān)= today, 明天 (míngtiān)=tomorrow, 后天(hòu tiān)= the day after tomorrow

They all share the same word at the beginning, except 昨天 (zuótiān)=yesterday and 去年 (qùnián)=last year.

Asking Somebody’s Age

As you have learned, 年(nián) means year, but it cannot be used to express someone’s age. To talk about age, we need the word 岁(suì). 岁(suì) also means year, but it is for age. For examples:

我妹妹七岁。

Wǒ mèimei qī suì.

My sister is seven years old.

By the way, to ask about age, we need 2 question words, 几 (jǐ) and 多少 (duōshǎo). They both mean how many. The difference is that 几 (jǐ) is used to ask for the small amount, commonly less than 10, meanwhile, 多少 (duōshǎo) is used to ask the large amount, normally more than 10. Therefore if you ask about children’s age, it’s better to use 几 岁(jǐ suì). Let’s see the example:

X: 你弟弟几岁？

X: Nǐ dìdì jǐ suì?

Y: 我弟弟八岁。

Y: Wǒ dìdì bā suì.

Let’s compare:

X: 你妈妈多少岁？

X: Nǐ māmā duōshǎo suì?

Y: 我妈妈五十七岁。

Y: Wǒ māmā wǔshíqī suì.

Saying This and That

This is 这(zhè) and that is 那(nà). Let’s see the usage in sentences:

这是我的书。

Zhè shì wǒ de shū.

那是你的钢笔。

Nà shì nǐ de gāngbǐ.

Be careful not to be confused with the word 哪 (nǎ). This 哪 (nǎ) means which. For example:

哪本书是你的书？

Nǎ běn shū shì nǐ de shū?

Which book is yours?

And the answer is:

那本书是我的书。

Nà běn shū shì wǒ de shū.

That book is mine.

The new meaning of 看 (kàn) and hui

We have learned these two words before. We previously learned the meaning of 看 (kàn) is to watch. Look again the example below.

我喜欢看电影。

Wǒ xǐhuān kàn diànyǐng.

I like watching movies.

But now you have more meaning for 看 (kàn), it is to visit somebody. Take a look at the following example:

他的朋友来这里看他。

Tā de péngyǒu lái zhèlǐ kàn tā.

His friend comes here to visit him.

Another meaning of 看 (kàn) is to look. Example:

你看, 她的女儿很漂亮。

Nǐ kàn, tā de nǚ’ér hěn piàoliang.

Look, her daughter is beautiful.

会 (Huì)

We previously learned that the meaning of 会 (huì) is will. See the following example:

我明年会去麦加。

Wǒ míngnián huì qù Màijiā.

I will go to Mecca next year.

Another meaning of 会 (huì) is be able to. See the example below:

X: 她会手英语。

X: Tā huì shǒu Yīngyǔ.

She is able to speak English.

Y:她会说日语吗？

Y: Tā huì shǒu Rìyǔ ma?

Is she able to speak Japanese?

X:会，她会说日语。 你呢？

X: Huì, tā huì shǒu Rìyǔ. Nǐ ne?

X: Yes, she is able to speak Japanese. What about you?

Y:不会， 我不说日语。

Y: Bù huì, wǒ bù shǒu Rìyǔ.

Y: No, I am not able to speak Japanese.

In daily life, you can give just the short answers, they are 会 (huì) for yes and不会 (bù huì) for no.

Study and practice the following dialogue!

X: 早上好，玛丽! 这是你儿子吗？

Y:对， 这是我儿子。

X:你儿子很帅。他今年几岁？

Y:谢谢。 他今年七岁。

X:他会说英语吗？

Y:会。 我儿子会说英语。

 

Filed under: Mandarin Chinese

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