We can express at what age, since what age or until what age something happens by using: a/desde/hasta + age respectively.
A + age in Spanish
When expressing at what age someone did/has done something we can use:
A los + age [años]
For example:
A los + age is a shorter and more colloquial than saying cuando tenía + age, but they mean exactly the same thing.
Elisa se hizo un piercing cuando tenía 16 años sin consultar a sus padres.
Desde + age in Spanish
When expressing since what age someone did/has done/has been doing something we can use:
Desde los + age [años]
For example:
Hasta + age in Spanish
Equally, when expressing until what age someone did/has done/has been doing something we can also use:
Hasta los + age [años]
Note that you need the article "los" in front of the age.
It is also possible to omit the word "años" and retain same meaning. But be careful if you drop the word "años" because it could sound as if you were talking about a specific decade depending on the context. Look at this example which can have two interpretations:
Hice muchas locuras hasta los 90.
I did lots of crazy things until I was 90.
I did lots of crazy things until the nineties.
You can also combine desde and hasta. For example:
Desde los + age [años] is a shorter and more colloquial alternative to the longer desde que + [verb] that expresses the same idea. Compare:
Mi hermana estudió Arte desde que tenía 19 años.
with:
Mi hermana estudió Arte desde los 19 años.
See also:
- Using desde que / hasta que (since/until) with Spanish indicative and subjunctive (subordinate time clauses)
- Using desde (hace) with the present instead of the perfect tense to express since/for
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