How to Say ‘How old are they?’ in Japanese
おいくつですか。
o iku tsu desu ka
[oh ee-koo tsoo desu kah]
🇯🇵 In Japan: おいくつ is the polite way to ask age, fine for children and adults alike; the plainer 何歳 (nansai) "how many years old" is mostly used with kids themselves.
Phrase Breakdown
お
o
[oh]
honorific prefix
Makes 荷物 more polite in customer service language.
おを付けると丁寧です。
Adding お makes it polite.
いく
iku
[ee-koo]
how many; how old (part of おいくつ)
From いくつ, used to ask an amount/number; with お + いくつ it becomes a polite way to ask someone’s age.
おいくつですか。
How old are you?
つ
tsu
[tsoo]
counter suffix
This hiragana helps form the general counter 一つ, meaning 'one item.'
つを付けて一つになります。
Adding つ makes it 一つ.
です
desu
[desu]
is; am; are
A polite copula used to make statements and questions.
ここは出口です。
This is the exit.
か
ka
[kah]
question particle
「か」で依頼を質問の形にします。語尾を上げると自然です。
手順を説明してもらえますか。
Could you explain the procedure?
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