Lesson 8

Video and text
Listening and speaking
Vocabulary
Grammar exercises
Characters
Multiple choice

Question: Ask how old your Chinese friend is.

Hint 1   The linking verb 是 is not needed when asking a person's age
Hint 2   多 大 is used for asking ages
Answer  你 今 年 多 大 了？ Listen
Comments  Alternatively: 你 今 年 几 岁 了 nǐ jīnnián jǐ suì le.   However, do not use this expression to ask the age of an old(er) person. It is only used for asking the ages of children. When you ask the time, or someone's age, the linking verb 是 shì is not used. For instance, 现 在 几 点了 xiànzài jǐ diǎn le what time is it? 小 王 的 妈 妈 今 年 多 大 岁 数 了 Xiǎo Wáng de māma jīnnián duó dà suìshu le how old is Xiao Wang's mother? The use of the modal particle 了 le at the end of the sentence implies a change of situation, meaning that something is now in a different state, as in 她 今 年 18了 ta jīnnián shí bā le she is 18. This implies that she has reached a new stage in her life.
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