Meaning of 岁
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- classifier for years (of age)
- year
- year (of crop harvests)
- variant of 歲|岁[sui4], year
- years old
How to use 岁
岁 is mainly used as a measure word for age, placed right after the number with no other classifier. It also appears in words about time, like 岁月 (suìyuè, years, time). Example: 我女儿五岁。(Wǒ nǚ'ér wǔ suì.) My daughter is five years old.
岁 is built from 山 (shān, mountain) on top and 夕 (xī, evening) below. Picture watching many evenings pass behind a mountain until another year of your life has gone by.
Common mistake: Learners often say 我是二十岁 or 我有二十岁. In Chinese you usually just say 我二十岁 (wǒ èrshí suì), with no 是 and never 有. Also do not confuse 岁 (age) with 年 (nián, year): 三岁 means three years old, but 三年 means a period of three years.
岁 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
岁 suì · classifier for years · 6 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 岁.
Questions about 岁
What does 岁 mean?
岁 (suì) means "classifier for years (of age); year" and is used as a measure word.
How do you write 岁?
岁 is made of 1 character: 岁 (6 strokes). That is 6 strokes in total.
Is 岁 an HSK word?
Yes. 岁 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 岁 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 岁 is written 歲.
How do I ask someone's age in Chinese using 岁?
Ask a child 你几岁？(nǐ jǐ suì?). For adults, 你多大？(nǐ duō dà?) is more natural, and for elderly people use the polite 您多大岁数？(nín duō dà suìshu?).
What does 万岁 mean and when is it used?
万岁 (wànsuì) literally means ten thousand years and is used like "Long live" in slogans, such as 祖国万岁 (Long live the motherland). In historical dramas it is also a way to address the emperor.