How to Talk About Your Birthday and Age in Portuguese — Practice

Use ter to ask and answer someone’s age

Portuguese expresses age with ter (to have), not ser or estar: tenho trinta anos (I’m thirty years old). To ask politely, quantos anos você tem? means ‘how old are you?’ Age questions can feel personal, so use them when the conversation makes the topic appropriate.

Change ter for the person: eu tenho, você tem, a gente tem, nós temos. The noun anos is normally plural except with um ano. You can answer with just the number when the question makes the meaning clear.

Say when the birthday happens

Meu aniversário é em maio says ‘my birthday is in May’; give the day with a full date: meu aniversário é no dia 12 de maio. Fazer aniversário means to have or celebrate a birthday: faço aniversário em setembro (my birthday is in September). The subject changes the verb: ela faz, nós fazemos.

In some Brazilian regions, estar de aniversário is also used. Meu aniversário é… and faço aniversário em… are clear patterns for learners across many settings. Use a month name when you want to avoid ambiguity in numeric dates.

Remember: Ask quantos anos você tem? and answer with ter + age. Use meu aniversário é… or faço aniversário em… to tell someone when your birthday is.

Check your understanding

Choose the English meaning of each Portuguese example. Answer before looking back at the tables. These questions check the written examples in this guide; they are not a listening or proficiency test.

Recall the Portuguese, then say it

Read the English prompt and say a Portuguese version before opening the answer. The answer shows the example from the lesson; other natural translations may also work. Compare the meaning and the situation rather than counting a different word as automatically wrong.

1. How old are you?

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Quantos anos você tem?

2. I’m twenty-eight years old.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Tenho vinte e oito anos.

3. My nephew is one year old.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Meu sobrinho tem um ano.

4. When is your birthday?

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Quando é o seu aniversário?

5. My birthday is on May 12.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Faço aniversário no dia 12 de maio.

6. We’re going to celebrate her birthday on Saturday.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   A gente vai comemorar o aniversário dela no sábado.

Make the phrase useful to you

Choose one example you could actually use. Say it once from memory, then change one detail that fits your life, such as the person, place, time, or object. Check whether your change also needs a different verb form, article, or adjective ending. If it does, compare it with the pattern in the explanation.

Ask quantos anos você tem? and answer with ter + age. Use meu aniversário é… or faço aniversário em… to tell someone when your birthday is.

Return to two prompts tomorrow without opening the answers first. If a phrase still feels difficult, shorten it to a useful chunk and build the complete sentence again.

Sources and your next lesson

This I Speak Portuguese practice guide builds on our How to Talk About Your Birthday and Age in Portuguese lesson on Real Life Portuguese, with written recall tasks and additional speaking practice. The explanations and examples are teaching material; the practice questions are exercises, not a transcript of a recording.

To add Brazilian audio to your routine, choose a lesson in the Real Life Portuguese app. The app offers its own lessons and practice; this page does not imply that every example here has an app recording.