歳さい

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 500

Meanings

counter

... years old; age (of) ...

Counter suffix attached to numbers to express age. 歳 is the standard kanji; 才 is a common informal simplification.

彼かれは十じゅっ歳さいです。
He is ten years old.
おいくつですか？ — 八はっ歳さいです。
How old are you? — I'm eight.

Usage patterns

〈数かず〉歳さいになるto turn ... years old
彼かれは来らい月げつ20歳はたちになる。
He will turn 20 next month.
何なん歳さいですかhow old are you?
失しつ礼れいですが、何なん歳さいですか。
Excuse me, but how old are you?
満まん〈数かず〉歳さいfull ... years of age (as a legal/official age)
満まん18歳さいから選せん挙きょ権けんがあります。
You have the right to vote from the age of 18.
〈数かず〉歳さいの〈人ひと〉a person who is ... years old
5歳さいの子こ供どもが公こう園えんで遊あそんでいる。
A 5-year-old child is playing in the park.

Grammar

一人ひとり・二に本ほん・三さん冊さつnumbers and countersN5

Kanji

歳year-end, age, occasion
才genius, years old, cubic shaku

Related words

年としN5
年 is a general noun meaning 'year' or someone's age in everyday speech, while 歳 is the counter suffix attached directly to a number to state age, as in 20歳.
つ
歳 is the standard, formal counter for age with Sino-Japanese numbers, whereas つ (1–9 only) sounds colloquial or child-directed.

Don't confuse with

才さい
歳 is the standard counter for age (二十歳), while 才 is sometimes used informally in its place but is properly the word for innate talent or a volume unit.
年ねん齢れいN3
年齢 is the abstract noun meaning 'age', while 歳 is the counter attached to a number, as in 20歳 (20 years old).
年としN5
歳 is the counter attached after a number to state someone's age (二十歳), while 年 is the noun that can mean age, a calendar year, or old age on its own.

Written forms

歳さいUsage96%
Standard kanji for age; used in formal and everyday contexts.
才さいUsage4%
Simplified variant often used in informal writing or when the full kanji is considered difficult.

Etymology

The kanji 歳 originally relates to the harvest cycle and came to mean 'year' and 'age'. The simplified form 才 is a homophonous kanji adopted for convenience.