How to talk about age in French

When it comes to speaking French, being able to talk about age is an essential skill. Your age is one of the first things that people will want to know about you, so it’s important to know how to describe it.

The first thing you need to know is that, unlike in English, in French we don’t use the word ‘to be’ - être - when talking about our age. Instead, we use the word ‘to have’ - avoir. Instead of being however many years old, you have however many years.

So, if you wanted to say ‘She is thirty-one years old’, you would say Elle a trente et un ans - ‘She has thirty-one years.’

The same applies for months, weeks and days, which you may use when talking about a small child:

Mon bébé a quatre semaines - ‘My baby is four weeks old’

Les jumeaux ont dix-huit mois - ‘The twins are eighteen months old’

If you want to say ‘and a half’, you would simply add ‘et demi’, as in the following example:

Rupert a quatre ans et demi - ‘Rupert is four and a half’

Again, and like in English, this is more common among children.

Now let’s take a look at some additional vocabulary that will help you out when it comes to talking about age in French.

Further examples:

J'aurai vingt ans la semaine prochaine - ‘I turn twenty next week’

Mon anniversaire est le 19 octobre - ‘My birthday is on the 19th of October’

On va fêter nos 25 ans de mariage l'année prochaine - ‘Our twenty-fifth anniversary is next year’