日本で英語を勉強すると、割と早い段階で、
How old are you?
あなたは何歳ですか？
という英文を習うと思います。それでは、一度年齢を聞いた相手に再度年齢を聞きたい場合、英語で何と言えば良いでしょうか。今日は、年齢に関する様々な英語を説明したいと思います。
How old are you again?
あなたは何歳でしたっけ？
年齢を聞かれたときの答え方は以下の通りです。
一番簡単な答え方は
I am + 数字
です。
I am six.
I am seventy-three.
She is forty-nine.
She is two and a half.
彼女は2歳半です。
次は、years old を数字の後に付ける答え方です。これは少しフォーマルな英語なので、日常会話ではそれほど使いません。
He is forty-nine years old.
彼は49歳です。
１歳の場合は years old ではなく、単数の year old を使います。
She is one year old.
彼女は１歳です。
形容詞の age も年齢を答える時に使いますが、これはフォーマルな英語です。
He is aged 16.
彼は16歳です。
The test subjects were three men aged 42.
試験の対象者は３人の４２歳の男性でした。
今の年齢ではなく、次の誕生日でいくつになるかという話題なら、going to be や will be を使います。
How old are you going to be?
何歳になるの？
I am going to be 17 this year.
今年１７歳になるよ。
I will be 20 next year.
俺は来年２０歳になるよ。
過去に何かあった時の年齢についての話題なら、以下のような英語を使います。
How old were you when you had your first kiss?
はじめてキスしたのは何歳だった？
I was 15 when I had my first kiss.
初めてキスをした時は１５歳でした。
How old was he when he first went abroad?
彼は何歳で初めて海外に行きましたか？
He was 45 when he first went abroad.
彼が初めて海外に行ったのは４５歳の時でした。
そして、years old の正しく使うには、２つのことに気を付けないといけません。
まず、twenty-years-old man などという英語は間違いです。year old を形容詞として使う場合、複数形にはなりません。これは日本人がよくしてしまう間違いです。
× She is a seventy-eight-years-old woman.
● She is a seventy-eight-year-old woman.
次に、形容詞の働きをする数字は、名詞の前に置く際にはハイフンを使います。
× He is a sixty five year old male.
● He is a sixty-five-year-old male.
僕は日本に来たばかりの頃、どこに行っても年齢を聞かれました。アメリカにいたときはあまりそのようなことはなっかたので、驚いたのを覚えています。確かに日本では、インターネットでエンタメニュースなどを見ていると、「タレントの○○さん（３１）が婚約を発表。お相手は３６歳実業家」などと書いてあるのをよく目にしたり、年齢に関するタブー感があまりない感じがします。やはり日本に比べると英語圏では、年齢を聞くのは失礼というイメージもあるので、もちろん日本と同じで場合にもよりますが、相手に年齢を聞く時には気を付けましょう。
Your articles very helpful always for me, especially it was really useful article.
Thank you for wonderful articles every time.
いつも興味深く読ませて頂いてます。
質問なのですが”How old are you?” よりも”Can I ask your age?”のほうが丁寧なイメージですが、実際の会話ではあまり使われないのでしょうか？
I heard asking age for woman is a little bit rude for manner. Is it right? In Japan, it is not so common but sometimes it is asked. How about in Western countries? I don’t understand why it is rude.
Hi!!
What you wrote in this page is too right.
People in English speaking countries think someone want to ask age as impolite.
So,you surprised to the people who want to ask everybody only age in Japan.
My european friend said the same things as you.
He said ‘In particular,only Japanese mind age.Age?So what?’.And,he said’You are right.’to me.
Because,I am another kind of Japanese.
I like neither such Japanese nor foreigners who are willing to receive a bad influence like that.
However,almost foreigners whom I’ve met are really great people.
They are willing to see many praiseworthy points to me.And then,they are delight to prise me by their great vocabulary.
I love do that as like as them.
But,why some Japanese want to ask and mind only age?They don’t want to conirm it about others in actually.They want to do AGEISM against someone to slander with no reason.
Of course, it’s easy such people pritend to say it’s just confirmation.
In our history,many women had been sacrificed by strange people’s attack with no reason.
The background of people love to say AGEISM have many inferiority complex about theirselves;
Their figure(not relative to age),coming from unsophisticated people’s place,No confidence about their ability to get enough money to live,Bad bloodline they do not want to be asked by anybody,
Getting awful marrige and hating someone enjoying great single life..
All of those are their problems.
But,they don’t want people to argue about their awful matter and want to change the target not relative to them.
These reasons are working behind AGEISM in Japan,it seems.It’s similar psychology of racism.
However,even anti‐Japanese people existed in Japan.They have announced this matter as the opposite.So,it’s not easy understand if you see or hear something on it’s surface.
Nowadays,the influx of such people in Tokyo are increasing under recession.
Additionaly,85% people live in areas where tend to have unsophisticated consciousness like “a male‐dominated society in local area”.
On the other hand,85% wealth is focused in Tokyo.
And,less than 1% people have rich money,rich time,rich activity in Tokyo.
Moreover,rich woman in Tokyo even never get age as the same as them.
So,Asking age to a boy 8 years old and a woman be nagged by someone like AGEISM are certainly different matter.
People in English speaking countries have noticed these matter before other countries.
(I think European countries and even other Agian countries are also don’t have bad matter of ageism.)
Then,the people have eliminated the matter from their countries where everybody should live in comfortably.
So,you should teach us how people should say to avoid the impolite(if any,no self-awakening of impolite) people.
‘Take a guess.I’m not 12years old?’
Imigawakaran
読ませていただきました。質問なのですが、プロフィールなので age と書かれていたら、〜years old か 〜 だけ(〜には数字が入ります)がいいのかどちらでしょうか？