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You are going to find out all the things you ever wanted to know about the basic phrase “Quel âge avez-vous”.
Are included a detailed guide of what it is and how you can use it in a conversation with an audio example. As well as the cool informations we added like dialogue example, slow pronunciation audio, synonyms and more!
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The literal meaning is:
It’s the easy and neutral way to ask someone his/her age in French and a very basic sentence that you should know. Its use is very similar to “How old are you?” in English, even though there are few tips you need to know as you will see in the next sections.
Use it at the beginning of a dialogue after meeting someone or as an icebreaker to change the topic of the conversation. The neutral way to use it would be: “Quel âge avez-vous ?” (How old are you) → “J’ai 28 ans et vous ?” (I’m 28 and you?).
In case of an informal context, use instead: “Quel âge as-tu ?“. But in a familiar context, you can use “T’as quel âge ?” which is shorter and easier to use.
Be extra careful when asking a woman her age, this is considered as impolite in France, even more if you are a man. In this case, you should ask instead: “Je peux te demander ton/votre âge ?” (May I ask for your age?) and she will decide.