歳
さい
hepburn sai
counter for age, years old
Part of speech · counter
Pattern visualization
Examples
- 私は二十歳です。I am twenty years old.
- 何歳ですか。How old are you?
Collocations
歳 (sai, age)何歳 (nansai)二十歳 (hatachi, exception)一歳 (issai)十歳 (jussai)
Mnemonic
Sai (歳) is "years old / age counter" — B + no-cluster. Sound mutation: issai, hassai, jussai (gemination). 二十歳 = hatachi (exception from ancient adult-rite vocabulary). 才 is the simplified glyph (school, daily life, nengajou heavy use). Korean se / sal split and Chinese sui single; Japans sai / sai-simple / hatachi split.
Quick check
二十歳 reading?