Saying your age in Spanish: Tener [número] años = To be [number] years old

Saying your age in Spanish

In Spanish, we use the verb tener (to have) to talk about age. To say I am [number] years old, we use tengo [number of years] + años. 

Read and listen to these sentences:

Tengo 30 años.I am 30 years old. [lit: I have 30 years]

Yo tengo veintiséis años.I am twenty-six years old.

Tengo 57 años ¿Y tú?I am 57 years old, and you?

Asking someone's age in Spanish

To ask how old someone is, you can use either the informal form (tienes), or the formal usted form (tiene). You're literally asking How many years do you have?

¿Cuántos años tienes?How old are you?

¿Cuántos años tiene usted?How old are you? [formal]

Unlike English, note that:
1. you cannot omit años in this expression.
2. we never use the verbs ser or estar (to be) to talk about age.
GRAMMAR: Yo tengo is the first person form (I) of the verb tener (to have) in El Presente.

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Examples and resources

¿Cuántos años tienes?How old are you?
Tengo 57 años ¿Y tú?I am 57 years old, and you?
Yo tengo veintiséis años.I am twenty-six years old.
Tengo 30 años.I am 30 years old. [lit: I have 30 years]
¿Cuántos años tiene usted?How old are you? [formal]
Saying your age in Spanish: Tener [número] años = To be [number] years old
1 of 2
Using the "tú" form, how would you ask "How old are you?"?

Q&A Forum 13 questions, 14 answers

DAVID V.B1Kwiziq community member

Very helpful. This is making my Spanish progress so faster!

Asked 3 months ago
DAVID V. asked:

Very helpful. This is making my Spanish progress so faster!

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D. A.A1Kwiziq community member

Must the formal include the article?

Could you ask formally without using “usted”. ¿Cuànto años tiene? Or must it be ¿“Cuánto años tiene usted? I always see “usted” in the formal examples.
Asked 1 year ago
SilviaKwiziq Native Spanish TeacherCorrect answer

Hola Susan

While it is a common practice to include the subject pronoun "usted" for formality in formal Spanish, it is not strictly compulsory. "¿Cuántos años tiene?" is grammatically correct and can be used without "usted", but the inclusion of "usted" is often seen as a polite and respectful choice in formal situations.

Un saludo

Silvia

D. A. asked:

Must the formal include the article?

Could you ask formally without using “usted”. ¿Cuànto años tiene? Or must it be ¿“Cuánto años tiene usted? I always see “usted” in the formal examples.

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Diana R.A1Kwiziq community member

Tu / Usted

When would be appropriate to use formal and informal second person?

For context, I'm planning to speak mostly with my Mexican family members, many that I'll be meeting for the first time or for the first time in many years. Most of them are older than me (I have one younger brother who speaks mostly Spanish). Would it be better to speak formally to the older family members, or informally because they're family?

Would you start formally with strangers (esp. those who are older) and then at some point be able to drop formality as you become closer to people, or as they express to you that it's okay (similar to Korean and Japanese)?

Asked 1 year ago
InmaKwiziq Head of Spanish, Native Spanish Teacher

Hola Diana

The formality with usted is subjective and it often depends on each person, each family, each region... I would suggest exactly what you said, starting formally with strangers, those you've never met and are elderly, and then you'll see if/how they themselves drop the formality or ask you to say "tú" instead.

Saludos

Diana R. asked:

Tu / Usted

When would be appropriate to use formal and informal second person?

For context, I'm planning to speak mostly with my Mexican family members, many that I'll be meeting for the first time or for the first time in many years. Most of them are older than me (I have one younger brother who speaks mostly Spanish). Would it be better to speak formally to the older family members, or informally because they're family?

Would you start formally with strangers (esp. those who are older) and then at some point be able to drop formality as you become closer to people, or as they express to you that it's okay (similar to Korean and Japanese)?

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jookie b.A0Kwiziq community member

tengo / estoy-soy

please help me understand why we use tengo/tiene and not estoy-soy.

Asked 1 year ago
InmaKwiziq Head of Spanish, Native Spanish Teacher

Hola Jookie

In Spanish we simply express our age by saying literally "I have ... years", instead of saying "I am ... years old." - Some structures don't coincide in English and Spanish and this is one of them. 

Saludos

jookie b. asked:

tengo / estoy-soy

please help me understand why we use tengo/tiene and not estoy-soy.

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Becky V.A1Kwiziq community member

Tiene v Tengo

Why is Tengo correct when the word usted is there?   Isn’t that formal?
Cuántos años tiene usted? - ________sesenta años. How old are you? - I am sixty.TengoTiene

Asked 1 year ago
InmaKwiziq Head of Spanish, Native Spanish Teacher

Hola Becky

It's "tengo" because that is the answer that the person gives to the first one who is asking:

¿Cuántos años tiene usted?

Then you answer to that: I am 60.

Tengo 60 años.

I hope it clarified it.

Saludos

Becky V. asked:

Tiene v Tengo

Why is Tengo correct when the word usted is there?   Isn’t that formal?
Cuántos años tiene usted? - ________sesenta años. How old are you? - I am sixty.TengoTiene

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Pinky Bhupinder J.A1Kwiziq community member

isimo can either these suffix be used in a context of any sentence

If  isimo  or ito or mente   is used  can either be used for these words as a suffixes.  

If any one can inform 

Asked 2 years ago
InmaKwiziq Head of Spanish, Native Spanish Teacher

Hola Pinky

Can you be a bit more specific? What do you mean by using these suffixes in a context of any sentence? They are three different suffixed with different functions. 

Saludos

Pinky Bhupinder J. asked:

isimo can either these suffix be used in a context of any sentence

If  isimo  or ito or mente   is used  can either be used for these words as a suffixes.  

If any one can inform 

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Pinky Bhupinder J.A1Kwiziq community member

Tengo yo

In the test,  the answer was wrong.    But, grammatically, Yo tengo and tengo should be accepted as correct!

Please can you check why this was marked incorrect!!!


Asked 2 years ago
InmaKwiziq Head of Spanish, Native Spanish Teacher

Hola Pinky

I checked and the system is also admitting as a correct answer "Yo tengo...", with the pronoun. I think the system gave your answer as incorrect because you mispelled "cincuenta años" (your answer being "Yo tengo cincueta anos"

I hope it clarified it.

Saludos

Pinky Bhupinder J. asked:

Tengo yo

In the test,  the answer was wrong.    But, grammatically, Yo tengo and tengo should be accepted as correct!

Please can you check why this was marked incorrect!!!


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Ruby H.A1Kwiziq community member

Capitalisation in the test

Hello! I wrote: 'tengo viente años' to say that I'm 20 years old. It marked me as incorrect, but the only difference I can see between my answer and the correct one is capitalisation. Is there something I'm missing? 

Asked 3 years ago
Inma S.A2Kwiziq community member

Hola Ruby

You wouldn't have been marked wrong for the capitalisation. It is the wrong spelling of the number 20. It should be "veinte", not "viente". 

Saludos

Inma

Ruby H. asked:

Capitalisation in the test

Hello! I wrote: 'tengo viente años' to say that I'm 20 years old. It marked me as incorrect, but the only difference I can see between my answer and the correct one is capitalisation. Is there something I'm missing? 

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Jane L.A1Kwiziq community member

Explain what is formal and unformal

Explain formal and informal


Asked 4 years ago
InmaKwiziq Head of Spanish, Native Spanish TeacherCorrect answer

Hola Jane

Here is a lesson explaining informal you (tú) and formal you (usted).

Saludos

Inma

Jane L. asked:

Explain what is formal and unformal

Explain formal and informal


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kaly t.B2Kwiziq community member

numbers as adjectives

on the test, the "correct" result was "tengo cincuentos años".  
Do numbers change according to the noun they are adjectives of?

Asked 4 years ago
InmaKwiziq Head of Spanish, Native Spanish Teacher

Hola Kaly,

I think you misread the sentence. It is saying:

¿Cuántos años tiene usted? - ___ cincuenta años. (How old are you? - I am fifty years old.)

You don't add -s at the end of the numbers to make it match with the plural noun (in this case "años"). It is already a plural adjective. 

This lesson is dealing with this. Have a look here.

Saludos,

Inma

kaly t. asked:

numbers as adjectives

on the test, the "correct" result was "tengo cincuentos años".  
Do numbers change according to the noun they are adjectives of?

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Abdullah a.A1Kwiziq community member

More examples

How can I get more examples regarding one lesson?? 

Asked 4 years ago
InmaKwiziq Head of Spanish, Native Spanish Teacher

Hola Abdullah,

yes you can; which lesson are you referring to?

Inma

David M.B1Kwiziq community member

I do not have access to accent marks or tildes!

Abdullah a. asked:

More examples

How can I get more examples regarding one lesson?? 

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Li K.A1Kwiziq community member

when do you include "Y" between parts of a number?

when do you include "Y" between parts of a number? One speaker uses it and the other does not.  Vente seis anos vs. cinquenta y siete anos

Asked 5 years ago
InmaKwiziq Head of Spanish, Native Spanish Teacher

Hola Li

We include "y" from 31st (included) onwards. Here is a list with numbers 1 to 50 that will help.

Numbers 1-50

Note that the "y" can only be placed between the tens and the units of a number. For example:

cuarenta y tres (43)

but not

ciento y cuarenta y tres (143)

Saludos

Inma

صيته ا.A1Kwiziq community member

Starting from 30s you'll add the "y" 

Li K. asked:

when do you include "Y" between parts of a number?

when do you include "Y" between parts of a number? One speaker uses it and the other does not.  Vente seis anos vs. cinquenta y siete anos

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Ahmed A.A0Kwiziq community member

why i never reach 100% is there something i supposed to do rather than answering the 2 questions?

Asked 5 years ago
GruffKwiziq Co-founder, CEO

Hi Ahmed - yes, the kwizzes at the end of each lesson are just 'tasters' - they don't test everything available in the lesson.

If you kwiz against your dashboard recommended studylist, or a particular level, or create your own notebook and kwiz against that then Kwizbot will ensure you work through everything available and you will be able to score higher.

Hope that helps!

Ahmed A. asked:

why i never reach 100% is there something i supposed to do rather than answering the 2 questions?

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