In Vietnamese, we use tuổi to talk about age, like “years old” in English.
Structure
Place tuổi after a number to express “years old”.
Subj. + number + tuổi
Examples
- Tôi 20 tuổi.I’m 20 years old.
- Bố tôi năm nay 60 tuổi.This year, my father is 60 years old.
- Em gái anh cũng 16 tuổi à?Is your sister also 16 years old?
Usage note
Common mistake: Note that it doesn’t require any verb to talk about age. A common mistake made by Vietnamese learners is using the verb là (“to be”) as if it was English, but this is wrong:
- Tôi là 20 tuổi. ❌
- Tôi 20 tuổi. ✔I’m 20 years old.
In colloquial Vietnamese, tuổi can be omitted when the context makes it clear.
- Năm nay tôi 35.I’m 35 years old this year.