Saying Your Age
Lithuanian says to me twenty years: Man dvidešimt metų. The person is in the dative, and there is usually no verb.
How It Works
1. Asking and answering.
- Kiek tau metų? (How old are you? to a friend)
- Kiek jums metų? (How old are you? polite)
- Man dvidešimt metų. (I am twenty.)
The question uses kiek with the genitive, and the person is in the dative, as in Man šalta. The present needs no verb, though Man yra dvidešimt metų is also heard.
2. Which form of metai?
- 10 to 20 and round tens take metų: dešimt metų, penkiolika metų, trisdešimt metų (see ten and up with the genitive).
- 2 to 9 take the numbers for plural-only nouns with metai: dveji, treji, ketveri, penkeri, šešeri, septyneri, aštuoneri, devyneri metai.
- Compound numbers follow their last word, as in compound numbers: dvidešimt dveji metai (22), devyniasdešimt penkeri metai (95).
- 1 and compound numbers whose final word is one (not eleven) use vieni metai, with vieneri metai as a common variant: Jai vieni metai (She is one), dvidešimt vieni metai (21).
3. Past and future. Use buvo and bus: Kai man buvo dešimt metų... (When I was ten...), Rytoj man bus trisdešimt metų (Tomorrow I will be thirty). Babies are often given in months: Jam šeši mėnesiai (He is six months old).
Examples (6)
- Kiek tau metų? — Man dvidešimt metų.
How old are you? — I am twenty.
Word by Word: How-many to-you years? — To-me twenty years.
Tau and man are both datives. Dvidešimt takes the genitive metų.
- Mano sesei penkiolika metų.
My sister is fifteen.
Sesė → sesei, the dative. Penkiolika takes metų.
- Jam penkeri metai.
He is five.
Penkeri is the special five for plural-only nouns like metai.
- Mano močiutei devyniasdešimt dveji metai.
My grandmother is ninety-two.
The last word, dveji, decides the form: dveji metai.
- Kai man buvo dešimt metų, gyvenome Kaune.
When I was ten, we lived in Kaunas.
Buvo puts the age in the past.
- Kiek jums metų, jei ne paslaptis?
How old are you, if you don't mind my asking?
Word by Word: How-many to-you years, if not secret?
Jums is the polite dative.
Common Mistakes
Using būti with the person as the subject, as in English I am twenty.
Aš esu dvidešimt metų.Man dvidešimt metų.Age belongs to the person in the dative: man, tau, jam. There is no aš esu in this pattern.
Using the ordinary number with metai.
Jam penki metai.Jam penkeri metai.Metai has only plural forms, so the numbers two to nine take their special forms: dveji, treji, penkeri.
Using metai after ten, eleven to nineteen, or a round ten.
Man dvidešimt metai.Man dvidešimt metų.Ten, eleven to nineteen and the round tens take the genitive plural: metų.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Age is expressed with a dative person and a number phrase for years.
Related Patterns
- kiek + genitiveHow Many and How Much
The question word in Kiek tau metų?
Level 2 - Numbers for Plural-Only Nouns
The special numbers dveji, treji and penkeri used with metai.
Level 3 - Plural-Only Nouns
Explains why metai is a plural-only noun.
Level 3 - Compound Numbers
Shows how the last word of a compound number decides the noun form.
Level 3 - Dative With State Words
The same dative person with a state word.
Level 2
Words in This Pattern
Practice Saying Your Age in Bubblegum
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