How to Say Your Birthday and Age in Brazilian Portuguese — Practice

Use fazer anos to say how old you are turning

Fazer + age + anos is a common way to say that someone is turning a certain age: vou fazer trinta anos (I’m turning thirty). Use the subject who is having the birthday, and conjugate fazer for that person.

For the question ‘How old are you?’, use quantos anos você tem? The answer uses ter: tenho trinta anos (I’m thirty).

Name the birthday date with meu aniversário é

Use meu aniversário é + date to say when your birthday is. For a celebration, fazer aniversário can also mean that it is someone’s birthday: hoje é meu aniversário.

The date is usually said with the day first, followed by de + month: doze de maio. If the year matters, add it at the end.

Remember: Use ter for your current age, fazer anos for the age you are turning, and meu aniversário é to give your birthday date.

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. I’m turning twenty-eight in December.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Vou fazer vinte e oito anos em dezembro.

2. How old is your sister turning?

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Quantos anos sua irmã vai fazer?

3. He turns thirty-five today.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Ele faz trinta e cinco anos hoje.

4. My birthday is on May twelfth.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Meu aniversário é no dia doze de maio.

5. Today is my mother’s birthday.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Hoje é aniversário da minha mãe.

6. The party will be on Saturday, after her birthday.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   A festa vai ser no sábado, depois do aniversário dela.

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.

Use ter for your current age, fazer anos for the age you are turning, and meu aniversário é to give your birthday date.

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 Say Your Birthday and Age in Brazilian 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.