How old are you? in Italian

One of the first personal questions you’ll likely want to ask when learning Italian is someone’s age. Luckily, this is a very common and straightforward expression once you understand how it works.

To ask someone their age in Italian, you say:

Quanti anni hai?

This sentence literally translates to How many years do you have? While this may sound unusual to English speakers, it’s the natural way to talk about age in Italian.

In Italian, age is expressed using the verb avere (to have), not essere (to be), which is different from English. So instead of saying I am 21, Italians say I have 21 years.

Examples:

Notice that in the last sentence, the final vowel of diciotto (eighteen) is dropped. This happens because the next word, anni (years), starts with a vowel. To make pronunciation smoother, Italians say diciott’anni instead of diciotto anni.

This vowel drop (called elisione in Italian) is very common with numbers ending in a vowel, such as venti, trenta, or quaranta, when followed by anni.

You can also use the same structure to ask about someone else’s age. Just change the verb form to match the subject.

Again, trent’anni comes from trenta anni, but the final vowel is dropped for smoother pronunciation.

If you want to be more formal, especially when speaking to someone older or in a professional setting, you can use the formal pronoun Lei:

Summary

To ask someone’s age in Italian, use the verb avere, not essere. The basic question is Quanti anni hai?, which literally means How many years do you have?

When answering, say Ho + number + anni, and remember that numbers ending in a vowel often drop that vowel before anni, such as diciott’anni or trent’anni. This structure works for talking about your own age as well as someone else’s.