Sunday 20 September 2015

grammar - How to compare the ages of people in Japanese?


This is probably a simple question but something I've seemingly never considered while studying Japanese, but how would one compare ages of people in Japanese?



For example if I wanted to say "I'm two years older than my girlfriend" would be something along the lines of "僕は彼女より二年年をとった" Although my interpretation of this makes it seem unnatural, along the lines of "I've aged two more years than my girlfriend". If someone can clarify I would greatly appreciate it.


Thanks


Matt



Answer



You would use [年上]{とし・うえ} for older and [年下]{とし・した} for younger.




  • 僕は彼女より2歳年上だ。 → I'm two years older than my girlfriend.

  • 妹は私より5歳年下です。 → My sister is five years younger than I.




You can also use them by themselves.




  • 花子さんには年下の[旦那]{だん・な}さんがいる。 → Hanako has a younger husband.

  • 翔平は兄弟の中で一番年上だ。 → Shōhei is the oldest of his siblings.



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