How Koreans Ask Your Age: 몇 살, 연세, 년생, 띠 and 학번

In Korea, age often comes up early in a first conversation, because it tells both people how to talk to each other. The question changes with who you’re asking, and the answer can be your age, your birth year, your zodiac sign or even your university entry year.

This post covers how the conversation actually goes. For the legal side, such as the 2023 switch to international age, see dates and birthdays in Korean. To work out your own numbers, use the Korean age calculator.

Why do Koreans ask your age so soon?

Korean grammar changes with the relationship between speakers. Someone older, even by a year, usually gets polite speech and a title like 언니, 오빠, 형 or 누나. Someone younger may be spoken to more casually once you know each other. Knowing each other’s age settles that quickly, so the question isn’t considered nosy. Our post on Korean politeness levels explains the speech styles themselves.

Being the same age, 동갑 (donggap), is a small event. It often means you can become 친구 (chingu, friends) and switch to casual speech sooner, after one of you asks.

How do you ask someone’s age politely?

The right question depends on who you ask:

연세 (yeonse) is the honorific word for age. Use it for people of your parents’ or grandparents’ generation, never for yourself. 몇 살이에요? is fine between people around the same age, but with an older stranger 나이가 어떻게 되세요? sounds more careful.

In speech, 몇 살 is said myeot-ssal: the ㅅ turns tense after the final consonant. Our Korean sound changes post explains why.

How do you answer?

Use a native Korean number with 살:

Remember the short forms before 살: 하나 → 한, 둘 → 두, 셋 → 세, 넷 → 네 and 스물 → 스무. So 21 is 스물한 살, 22 is 스물두 살 and exactly 20 is 스무 살. The tens above that are 서른 (30), 마흔 (40), 쉰 (50), 예순 (60), 일흔 (70), 여든 (80) and 아흔 (90).

Adding 만으로 (“in international age”) makes your meaning clear. Some older people still think in the old count, where everyone was a year or two older. Since 2023, international age is the official default, so you can simply give that number.

What does “몇 년생이에요?” mean?

It means “What year were you born?”, literally “born in which year?” Many people prefer it to asking your age, because a birth year gives an exact comparison and avoids any confusion between age systems.

Answer with the last two digits of your birth year, read with Sino-Korean numbers:

• 97년생이에요 = I was born in ’97. Said 구칠년생 (gu-chil-lyeonsaeng), digit by digit.
• 2001년생이에요 = I was born in 2001. Said 이천일년생 (icheon-il-lyeonsaeng) or 공일년생 (gong-il-lyeonsaeng).

Notice the switch: age itself uses native numbers (스물다섯 살), but the birth year uses Sino-Korean ones. If that split is new, see native vs Sino-Korean numbers.

What is 빠른년생?

빠른 (ppareun) means “fast” or “early.” 빠른년생 (ppareun-nyeonsaeng) are people born in January or February who started school with the year above them. Until the 2009 school year, Korean schools grouped children from March to the following February, so a child born in February 1995 was in the same class as children born in 1994.

That creates a social puzzle: by birth year they are younger, but their classmates and friends are a year older. Many 빠른년생 say “빠른 95예요” (ppareun gu-o-yeyo, “early ’95”) so people know to treat them like the year above. Schools have grouped children by calendar year since 2009, so the term mostly applies to people born before the early 2000s.

Why would someone ask your zodiac sign?

무슨 띠예요? (museun tti-yeyo?, “What’s your zodiac animal?”) is an indirect way to find out someone’s age, especially for older people. The 12 animals repeat every 12 years, so if you know someone is about your age and was born in the Year of the Rabbit, their birth year follows. It’s also simply a common topic.

Answer with your animal plus 띠: 토끼띠예요 (tokki-tti-yeyo, I’m a Rabbit), 용띠예요 (yong-tti-yeyo, I’m a Dragon). Your animal follows the lunar year, so if you were born in January or early February, check the date of Lunar New Year that year. The age calculator does this for you.

What is a 학번?

At university, students often compare 학번 (hakbeon, entry year) instead of age. 몇 학번이에요? (myeot hakbeon-ieyo?) means “What year did you enter university?” You answer with the last two digits: 15학번이에요, said 일오 학번 (il-o hakbeon), “I entered in 2015.”

Seniority by entry year matters a lot on campus: a 선배 (seonbae, senior) entered before you, and a 후배 (hubae, junior) after you. That can apply even when the 후배 is older in years, for example after military service or a gap year.

What should you say if you’d rather not tell your age?

You can smile and say 비밀이에요 (bimil-ieyo, “it’s a secret”), which is light and friendly. Or turn it around with 몇 살 같아 보여요? (myeot sal gata boyeoyo?, “How old do I look?”). Most people won’t push. If you’re a visitor, people usually won’t expect you to know the age etiquette, and polite speech with everyone is always a safe choice.

Sources: National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원), Standard Korean Language Dictionary (연세, 동갑, 학번) and Standard Pronunciation rules; Ministry of Government Legislation, unified international age system (in force June 28, 2023); Elementary and Secondary Education Act, article 13 as amended in 2008 (school entry by calendar year from the 2009 school year).

We follow the rules of the National Institute of Korean Language. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we'll fix it.