# X years old (age)



## muratanea

Hi, 

I am wondering how to put the phrase "When I was two (years old)". 

Would it be: 

متى عندي سنتين

or

متى كنت سنتين 

is it necessary to specify "years old"?

Thanks,


----------



## Haroon

عندما كان عمري سنتين
عندما كنت في الثانية من عمري


----------



## إسكندراني

I agree with the previous answer, or alternatively:
لمّا كنت في الثانية من عمري
متى is used as a question word, or for things which happen(ed) repeatedly.
e.g.
 وجدت رجل غريب لمّا ذهبت إلى السوق
 وجدت رجل غريب متى ذهبت إلى السوق
The latter means I found a strange man at the market every time I went there.
(I will not worry you about how the dialects say 'when I was 2 years old' unless you would like to know)


----------



## natnouta

[Moderator's Note: Merged with a previous thread]
hello,

which one is correct: أنا في الثالثة عشر والنصف من عمري؟ أو في الثالثة عشرة والنصف من عمري؟

I want the rule also plz

THank you in advance

Natnouta


----------



## barkoosh

To know the answer, we must know first what is the معدود (the counted object) in the expression. It's obvious here that the معدود is سنة. It's as if you're saying
أنا في السنة الثالثة...‏
Now, according to the rules of العدد الترتيبي (ordinal numbers), and since سنة is feminine, it should be then
أنا في الثالثة عشرة من عمري


----------



## natnouta

THank you so much


----------



## fdb

But don’t forget that the ordinal numbers 11 to 19 are indeclinable for case. So you read it as: ʼana fī s-sanati th-thālithata ʻashrata ....


----------



## Qureshpor

Can anyone please offer an easy way, if at all possible, to remember/workout how to formulate Arabic numbers taking into account gender of the counted noun. With my memory which is like a sieve, I struggle with the numbers. I am sure I am not alone. I am of course after MSA (Classical Arabic) numbers, not colloquial ones.


----------



## fdb

There is no easy way to remember it, but it is explained in all good Arabic grammars, e.g. in Wright. If it is any comfort to you: 90% of Arabic native speakers get it wrong most of the time.


----------



## Qureshpor

Thank you. I suppose there is no substitute for a hard grind.


----------



## tulee

[Moderator's Note: Merged with a previous thread]
Hi guys,

Sorry to bother you. I need to write 3 sentences for my self introduction:

I am 22 years old.
xxx

So far, this is what I have for each, and I was wondering if this is correct:

عمري إثنين وعثرون


----------



## akhooha

tulee said:


> ...I am 22 years old.
> ... I was wondering if this is correct:
> عمري إثنين وعثرون


عمري اِثنان وعشرون سنة


----------



## figgles

[Moderator's Note: Merged with a previous thread]
Hello all! I was looking for a grammar clarification about using numbers with ages in MSA. Specifically, I was wondering whether سنة changes the gender from feminine (as in 1) masculine to  (as in 2, 3) feminine. Sentence 1 seems wrong to me, but I'm not sure, so this whole question may be moot.

Are any/all of these correct? Please make sure I'm using the right noun case and gender for each word.

عمري ستةٌ
عمري ستُ سنواتٍ

عمري ستٌ و عشرون سنةً
Also, is it more common to say: عندي ستٌ و عشرون سنةً ?


----------



## Matat

All your sentences are correct (though the و should be attached to the next word always; it should not be its own word). There are two commonly used words for "year", which are "عام" (a masculine noun) and "سنة" (a feminine noun). So regardless whether you say "عمري ست" or "عمري ستة", you can't go wrong. The word ست/ستة is not matching with the word "عمري". Rather, it is matching an omitted counted noun whatever it may be. So if your intended omitted noun is أعوام (the plural of عام), saying "عمري ستةٌ" is correct (i.e. عمري ستة أعوام). If your intended omitted noun is سنوات, then saying "عمري ستٌّ" is correct (i.e. عمري ست سنوات).



figgles said:


> Also, is it more common to say: عندي ستٌ و عشرون سنةً ?


I've never heard this before.


----------



## figgles

I heard in Egyptian Arabic (I think!), عندك كام سنة as "how old are you?" -- maybe someone else can comment on that. I know my original question was about MSA, I wasn't sure if it was legal in MSA as well.


----------



## Abu Talha

Somewhat relevant, here is an amusing anecdote enumerating different ways to ask someone's age in Classical Arabic. (I wouldn't take from the story though that the only correct way is the last one.)
مقولة - كَم مضى مِن عُمرك!


----------

