How to say your age in French?
First of all, there is a big grammatical trap. In English, to talk about how old someone or something is, you use the construction: âto be + numberâ.
- He is 5.
No need to say youâre counting years.
In French, we donât use the verb to be (âĂȘtreâ in French). We use the construction âto have (so âavoirâ) + number + whatever you are countingâ
- Il a cinq ans â He/it is five (years old)
- Il a cinq jours â He/it is five days old.
- Il a cinq semaines â He/it is five weeks old.
- Il a cinq mois â He/it is five months old.
We always specify whatever it is that we are counting, even when itâs years.
You cannot say in French âil a cinqâ. You would always say âil a cinq ansâ.
To master French numbers, I suggest you study with my free French numbers audio lesson (with plenty of exercises). And for off-line studying, I suggest you take a look at my French number audiobook â study at home or on the go!

Master All Numbers From 0 To 999 999 999! The most in-depth audiobook about French numbers anywhere
How To Say âHow Old Are Youâ in French?
To ask someoneâs age, you would say:
- Quel Ăąge avez-vous ? How old are you, using vous.
- Tu as quel Ăąge ? How old are you, using tu and a street French colloquial question form.
- Quel Ăąge a-t-il ? How old is he (formal way of asking)
- Elle a quel Ăąge ? How old is she (casual street French way)
Asking A Woman Her Age in French â A Big Faux-Pas
Asking a woman her age is considered quite impolite in French, especially if you are a man. If you are curious and still want to know, be delicate about it: âest-ce que je peux me permettre de te demander ton Ăąge ?â â this translates literally into âmay I allow myself to ask for your ageâ but it would be the polite way to ask a woman her age in French.
How To Say âHow Many + Age Notionâ in French?
If you wanted to ask precisely how many week, months⊠someone or something was, you would say:
- Combien de semaines a le bĂ©bĂ© dâAnne ? How many weeks is Anneâs baby (watch out, remember to use âavoirâ, not the verb to be in French: âĂȘtreâ)
- Ce fromage a été affiné pendant combien de mois ? How many months was this cheese aged?
Learn more about question making with my downloadable French audio lesson (formal way, street way, complex interrogative expression such as âdepuis combien de tempsâ (for how long) etc⊠asking question is more complex in French than you think, and will unlock your conversation skills).
How To Say Year in French â An versus AnnĂ©e
This is tricky for French students.
âUn anâ (masculine, strong liaison with the N making it sound like âun Nanâ) and âune annĂ©eâ both translate as âa yearâ. But they are not interchangeable.
Books will tell you âune annĂ©eâ is a year span, itâs about the duration. I donât think itâs clear, so Iâll tell you something else, that works most of the time :-)
With a number (except one) use âanâ for year.
- Il a trois ans â he is three.
- Tous les deux ans â every 2 years.
- Jây suis allĂ©e il y a cinq ans â I went there 5 years ago.
âAnnĂ©eâ is mostly used in expressions that you need to learn by heart
- LâannĂ©e derniĂšre â last year
- LâannĂ©e prochaine â next year
- Toute lâannĂ©e â All year long â tous les ans â each year
- Les annĂ©es quatre-vingts â the eighties
- LâannĂ©e scolaire â the school year
- LâannĂ©e dâavant / dâaprĂšs â the year before / the following year
Memorize these expressions, and this wonât be a problem for you any longer.
How To Say Getting Older in French?
We use specific verbs to say to get older in French:
- Les enfants grandissent (grandir) â to grow up. â children grow up.
- Les adultes vieillissent (vieillir) â to grow old. â adults grow old.
Both can also ârajeunirâ â to become/look younger.
How To Say Old in French?
The French adjective for âoldâ is âvieux (m), vieille/s (f), or vieilâ⊠which Iâll explain below.
Now, even the French adjective for old is problematic. Itâs very irregular.
The French adjective âoldâ goes BEFORE the noun, when most French adjectives go after the noun.
- Vieux + masculine noun, singular and plural (the x is silent)
un vieux chien, deux vieux chiens â an old dog, 2 old dogs - Vieille + feminine noun (add an S to make it plural)
une vieille chienne, deux vieilles chiennes â an old female dog, 2 old female dogs - Vieil + masculine noun starting with a vowel or a silent h = the mutant form!
un vieil immeuble â an old building
un vieil ordinateur â an old computer
Watch out! âUn vieil amiâ means an old (time) friend. Say âun ami qui est vieuxâ if you want to say âa friend who is oldââŠ
The pronunciation of âvieilâ is the same as the feminine âvieilleâ.
Be careful that the noun âles vieuxâ to talk about old-people is pejorative in French. Use instead âles personnes ĂągĂ©esâ or âles sĂ©niorsâ.
Instead of calling someone âoldâ, it may be more delicate to call them ânot very youngâ = pas trĂšs jeune, or âof some ageâ = dâun certain Ăąge.
- Anne est une femme dâun certain Ăąge. Elle nâest plus trĂšs jeune mais elle est restĂ©e trĂšs jeune dâesprit
Ann is a mature woman. She is no longer young, but she remained young at heart (notice we say âyoung in spiritsâin French)

4 generations French family: my husband Olivier, our daughter Leyla, Olivierâs mom Cristine and grandmother GeneviĂšve â€ïž
How to say Young in French?
The French adjective for âyoungâ is also irregular, since it too goes before the noun, but at least it has only one form:
- Jeune + masculine or feminine noun. Add an S to make it plural.
Un jeune chien â a young dog
Trois jeunes chiennes â three young female dogs.
Here also, youâll use into expressions. âUn jeune-hommeâ is a young man, so he is young for sure, but itâs also an old fashion greeting : âbonjour jeune-hommeââŠ
Same goes for âune jeune-femmeâ.
30 French Words For Age Stages
La Naissance â birth
- Un bĂ©bĂ© â a baby â always masculine. We then talk about âun bĂ©bĂ© filleâ (girl) ou un bĂ©bĂ© garçon (boy)â
- Un nouveau-nĂ© â a newborn, masculine.
- Il est nĂ© / elle est nĂ©e â he/she was born
Lâenfance â childhood
- Un/une enfant â a child â mostly used in the masculine, but can be used in the feminine as well. No e at the end though.
- Une fille â a girl
- Un garçon â a boy
- Grandir â to grow up and also to grow in size
Lâadolescence â teenage years
- Un adolescent, une adolescente â a teenager
- Un jeune-homme â a young man
- Une jeune-fille â a young woman
- Un ado â a teen
- MĂ»rir â to become more mature
LâĂąge Adulte â adulthood
- Un / une adulte â an adult
- Un homme â a man (strong liaison un Nomm)
- Une femme â a woman (pronounced fam)
- Vieillir â to grow old(er)
La Vieillesse â old age
- Une personne ĂągĂ©e â an elderly person (une personne being feminine, this expression may refer to men but is feminine)
- Un ancien, une ancienne â an elderly person, very old-fashioned.
- Un vieux, une vieille â an old person â pejorative
- Un sĂ©nior â a senior
- Mourir â to die
- La mort â death, t silent
- Il est mort â he is dead / died (t silent)
- Elle est morte â she is dead / died (t pronounced)
For more French death related vocabulary and how to express your sympathy in French, read my article.
Note, in France we talk about âle premier Ăągeâ for infancy, and then âle troisiĂšme Ăągeâ is for retired but physically active people, and we now talk about âle quatriĂšme Ăągeâ for people who are old and ill. But we never talk about âle deuxiĂšme ĂągeââŠ
VoilĂ , I hope this lesson on how to express age in French will be useful to you. You may also like my audio lessons on French numbers.
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