How to Ask How Old Are You in Japanese

When we make a new friend, it’s natural to want to ask ‘how old are you?’

But age can be a bit of a touchy subject, so it is important that we approach this topic in the most appropriate way!

‘Age’ in Japanese is nen rei (年齢 / ねんれい). Although it is grammatically correct to simply ask nen rei wa nan desu ka?, there are more natural ways to inquire about someone’s age!

Let’s learn how to ask ‘how old are you’ in Japanese, in natural and polite ways.

Ways to ask ‘how old are you’ in Japanese

Nan sai desu ka

何歳ですか

What age are you?

Probably the most common way to ask about someone’s age in Japanese is nan sai desu ka? (何歳ですか / なんさいですか).

The kanji 歳 (sometimes 才), pronounced sai, is a counter for ‘age’ or ‘…years old’. With the ending of desu ka, this phrasing is casual, yet polite. In situations where you want to be even more casual, you can omit the ending and simply ask nan sai? 

Side note: We have an informative post about counters, something which may be a foreign concept to Japanese learners! Depending on what it is you are counting, a particular kanji is affixed to the preceding number, often altering its standard pronunciation.

O ikutsu desu ka

おいくつですか

How old are you?

O ikutsu desu ka (おいくつですか) is the more formal and respectful way to ask ‘how old are you’.

You can drop the honorific o and desu ka ending to pose the more informal question: ikutsu? This expression is usually posed towards children.

Umare wa itsu desu ka

生まれはいつですか

When were you born?

A more indirect way to ask someone their age is by asking when they were born!

In Japanese, we say umare wa itsu desu ka? (生まれはいつですか / うまれはいつですか). This is a handy and less forward way to find out someone’s age, birthday or star sign!

Nan nen sei desu ka

何年生ですか

What class are you in?

If you’re speaking to a child or student, another less direct way to get a feel for their age is by finding out what class or grade they are in.

You could ask nan nen sei desu ka (何年生ですか / なんねんせいですか). Nen sei would translate similarly to ‘..th class’ or ‘..th year student’.

Example:

私は大学の一年生です
わたしはだいがくのいちねんせいです
Watashi wa daigaku no ichi nen sei desu
I am a first year student in university

Ways to answer ‘how old are you’ in Japanese

To say your age in Japanese, you use the counter 歳 (sai) in conjunction with the number of years you are. If you know how to count in Japanese it is mostly straight forward. However depending on this combination, you may need to watch out for some differences in pronunciation!

English	Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji
One year old	一歳	いっさい	I ssai
Two years old	二歳	にさい	Ni sai
Three years old	三歳	さんさい	San sai
Four years old	四歳	よんさい	Yon sai
Five years old	五歳	ごさい	Go sai
Six years old	六歳	ろくさい	Roku sai
Seven years old	七歳	ななさい	Nana sai
Eight years old	八歳	はっさい	Ha ssai
Nine years old	九歳	きゅうさい	Kyuu sai
Ten years old	十歳	じゅっさい	Ju ssai
Eleven years old	十一歳	じゅういっさい	Juu i ssai
Twenty years old	二十歳	にじゅっさい / はたち	Ni ju ssai / Hatachi
Thirty one years old	三十一歳	さんじゅういっさい	San juu i ssai

It is mainly ages 1, 8, 10 and ages that end in 1 that have slight pronunciation variations. 

The one that really sticks out is age 20! In Japanese culture, adulthood begins at age 20. This is a special age and there is even a yearly celebration called ‘coming of age day’ known as seijin no hi (成人の日 / せいじんのひ) held for those reaching adulthood during that year.

This historic custom has kept the ancient Japanese word hatachi in use even in today’s language!

To answer any of the above ways to say ‘how old are you’ that we just learned, you can simply fill your age in the phrase below.

You can take a look at our post about numbers 1-100 to find your age if you don’t already know it.

Watashi wa ○○ sai desu
私は ○○ 歳 です
わたし○○さいです
I am ○○ years old

Learn more

Congratulations on reaching the end of this post! Now you know a few different ways to ask someone’s age in Japanese, politely and respectfully.

For more practical, everyday Japanese, our top recommended course is JapanesePod101. Try it for free!

Related posts

• How to Say ‘My Name Is’ in Japanese
• How to Say ‘Nice to Meet You’ in Japanese
• How to Say ‘How Are You’ in Japanese

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Hannah Stafford

Hannah is a half Irish/half Japanese girl living in Ireland. Her love for Japan and the Japanese language led her to studying languages and translation in university where she specialised in Japanese. She spent a year studying abroad at Rikkyo University in Tokyo. In her free time, Hannah enjoys using her sewing machine to upcycle clothes and create new pieces!