| To ask about the age of a kid (usually less than 10 years old), we don't use 多大 (duō dà) to ask about their ages any more, instead, we use 几岁(jǐ suì)。 |
| nǐ | jǐ | suì | | 你 | 几 | 岁？ | | (lit.) You how many years of age? |
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| wǒ | liù | suì | | 我 | 6 | 岁。 | | I'm 6 years old. |
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| 几(jǐ) here is a question word which means how many. In lesson 16, we learnt how to ask for one's phone number, that is "nǐ de diàn huà hào mǎ shì duō shǎo？" Here 多少 (duō shǎo) also means how many. But 几(jǐ) is often used to ask the number which is less than 10. So when asking the age of an adult, you can't ask "nǐ jǐ suì?" which is only used to ask a child's age. |
| *Make a comparison |
| nǐ | duō | dà? | | 你 | 多 | 大？ | | To ask an adult's age |
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| nín | duō | dà | suì | shu? | | 您 | 多 | 大 | 岁 | 数？ | | To ask an elderly person's age |
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| nǐ | jǐ | suì | | 你 | 几 | 岁？ | | To ask a child's age |
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