Lesson 8 · pre-A1
Why English speakers say *soy siete años*
This is the classic one. In English you are an age: "I am seven years old." So English speakers reach for the verb "to be" and produce soy siete or estoy siete años. Both sound wrong to a Spanish ear.
Spanish says you have years. Age uses tener: tengo siete años — literally "I have seven years". Not ser, not estar. Once you hear it as "having" years rather than "being" an age, it stops fighting you.
The same tener carries possession, and here another English reflex slips in. "I have the two brothers" tempts learners into an article, but Spanish takes none after a number: tengo dos hermanos, never tengo los dos hermanos. Note too that hermanos (masculine plural) covers brothers or a mixed group of siblings.
One last small trap: tu without an accent means "your" (¿y tu familia?), while tú with an accent means "you". Same letters, one little mark apart.
- ¿Cuántos años tienes? — Tengo siete años.
- Tengo dos hermanos.
- ¿Y tu familia?
Say it with me: Tengo siete años. You don't are seven in Spanish, you have seven. Let tener carry your age.
Phrases from this lesson
- tengo dos hermanos — I have two brothers (possession + plural) hermanos (masculine plural) covers a mixed group of siblings or just brothers; no article after the number.
- tengo siete años — I'm seven years old (age) Age is 'to have years' — tener, never ser or estar; 'soy siete años' is the classic English-speaker error.
- ¿y tu familia? — and your family? (possessive tu) Possessive tu (no accent) = 'your'; don't confuse it with tú (with accent) = 'you'.