HSK 1 · Lesson 5你今年多大？ How old are you?

Numbers 0–100, age, the measure word 个, 两 vs 二, 几 vs 多少.

Speed:Male voice:

Dialogues

Age

你今年多大？

Nǐ jīnnián duō dà?

How old are you this year?

我今年二十岁。你呢？

Wǒ jīnnián èrshí suì. Nǐ ne?

I’m twenty. And you?

我十九岁。你有孩子吗？

Wǒ shíjiǔ suì. Nǐ yǒu háizi ma?

I’m nineteen. Do you have children?

我没有孩子。我姐姐有两个孩子，一个儿子，一个女儿。

Wǒ méiyǒu háizi. Wǒ jiějie yǒu liǎng ge háizi, yí ge érzi, yí ge nǚ’ér.

I don’t. My sister has two: a son and a daughter.

你们班有多少学生？

Nǐmen bān yǒu duōshao xuésheng?

How many students are in your class?

我们班有三十二个学生。

Wǒmen bān yǒu sānshí’èr ge xuésheng.

There are thirty-two students in our class.

New words

零língzero; nought; zero sign
一yīone; single; a (article)
二èrtwo; 2; (Beijing dialect) stupid
三sānthree; 3
五wǔfive; 5
六liùsix; 6
七qīseven; 7
八bāeight
九jiǔnine; 9
十shíten; 10
百bǎihundred; numerous; all kinds of
两liǎngtwo; both; some
个gèclassifier used before a noun that has no specific classifier
岁suìyears old; classifier for years (of age); year
今年jīnniánthis year
多大duōdàhow old; how big
多少duōshaohow much?; how many?; (phone number, student ID etc) what number?
孩子háizichild
儿子érzison
女儿nǚ'érdaughter
班bānteam; class; grade
多duōmany; much; more; a lot of

📝 Worksheet for this lesson

Grammar

1. Numbers are a construction kit

Know 1–10 and you know up to 99: 十一 = 10+1 = 11, 二十 = 2×10 = 20, 三十五 = 3×10+5 = 35. 100 is 一百, 0 is 零.

四十八

sìshíbā

九十九

jiǔshíjiǔ

一百

yìbǎi

100

2. The measure word 个 and 两

number + measure word + noun

A measure word always sits between a number and a noun. The most common is 个 (ge): 三个学生 three students. “Two” before a measure word is 两, not 二: 两个孩子. 二 is used when counting and inside numbers: 二十二.

我有两个妹妹。

Wǒ yǒu liǎng ge mèimei.

I have two younger sisters.

一个老师

yí ge lǎoshī

one teacher

3. Age: 岁 without 是

“I am 20” is 我二十岁 — no 是. To ask: a peer — 你多大？, a child — 你几岁？

她八岁。

Tā bā suì.

She is eight.

你几岁？

Nǐ jǐ suì?

How old are you? (to a child)

4. 几 and 多少

几 when you expect a small number (under 10), with a measure word: 几个? 多少 for any number, the measure word may be dropped: 多少学生?

你有几个孩子？

Nǐ yǒu jǐ ge háizi?

How many children do you have?

Exercises

1. Write the numbers in characters

14
Answer
十四
27
Answer
二十七
60
Answer
六十
99
Answer
九十九

2. 两 or 二?

我有___个哥哥。
Answer
两
她___十岁。
Answer
二
___个学生
Answer
两

3. Translate

I am 25.
Answer
我二十五岁。
How many students are in your class?
Answer
你们班有多少学生？

💡 Did you know?: Finger numbers and unlucky four

Chinese people show 6–10 with special one-hand gestures. 4 (sì) sounds like 死 sǐ “death”, so many buildings skip the 4th floor, while 8 (bā) is lucky — it rhymes with 发 fā “to get rich”.

Phrase audio — Microsoft speech synthesis (voices Xiaoxiao, Yunyang, Yunxi); syllables and some words — native recordings (audio-cmn, CC BY-SA).