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现年 (xiàn nián) — present age (of a person), current age

Definition

Written/formal way to state someone's current age, usually in biographies, obituaries, or official profiles. It is more formal than the everyday 今年 and pairs with 岁 to give an exact age.

noun
present age (of a person)current age

Examples

  • 现年，。
    Tā xiàn nián sì shí wǔ suì, yǐ jīng gōng zuò le èr shí nián.
    He is currently 45 years old and has worked for twenty years.
  • 现年，。
    Zhè wèi zuò jiā xiàn nián bā shí bā suì, réng zài xiě zuò.
    This writer is currently 88 years old and still writing.
  • ，现年。
    Gēn jù zī liào, tā xiàn nián wǔ shí duō suì.
    According to the data, he is currently over 50.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

现xiànpresent
年niányears

现 means present, and 年 points to the years of life, giving the current age.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 現; 现 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
玉玉yùjade
Sound part声符shēngfú
見
見jiàn現
Same sound today

The traditional form 現 pairs 玉 (jade) with 見 as a sound part; the simplified 现 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the historical parts.

Open 现 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
禾禾héwheat; grain
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén年nián
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

年 pairs 禾 (grain) with 人, which gives the sound. Its original meaning was harvest, and it later came to mean a year.

Open 年 →
Appears in
Life Stages & Age

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