how do you say “fourteen years old” in Hebrew?
בֶּן/בַּת אַרְבַּע עֶשְׂרֵה
In English, if you want to tell someone your age, you might say I’m twenty five. But if you say אני עשרים וחמש[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/בן-ארבע-עשרה-2.m4a” /] in Hebrew, you’ll sound awkward and your non-native status will be picked up immediately.
Hebrew’s way of expressing age is to say son – בן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/בן-ארבע-עשרה-3.m4a” /] – or daughter – בת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/בן-ארבע-עשרה-4.m4a” /] – of that number of years.
For example:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/בן-ארבע-עשרה-5.m4a” /]היא בת ארבע עשרה.
She’s fourteen.
and
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/בן-ארבע-עשרה-6.m4a” /]הוא בן חמש עשרה.
He’s fifteen.
The same is true when speaking of animals and objects.
For example:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/בן-ארבע-עשרה-7.m4a” /]העץ הזה בן אלפיים שנה.
This tree is two thousand years old.
