Is it 歳 or 才?

When you say someone's age, you add 才 or 歳 to say "years old" or "age." Both are read the same way and mean the same thing, so which is correct? こんにちは！ When you're learning Japanese, there are a lot of unexplained inconsistencies. Today, let's tackle one of them. If I asked "how old are you?" how would you write that out in Japanese? ５０歳 or ５０才? Have you seen age indicated with one or both of these kanji before? Have you ever wondered why there are two versions for the same thing? When put after a number, both are read in exactly the same way (さい/sai) and both mean the exact same thing (age/years old). So what's the difference? You see, a long, long time ago 歳 referred to "the time from seeding to harvest." Then, it expanded to mean "one year." Finally, in the Heian Period, it was used to mean "xx years old." The meaning evolved over time. Same with 才. Originally meant "dam a river." This expanded to meaning "wood/lumber/timber" (that's used to dam a river), and that expanded to just refer to materials, which ended up becoming "materials of a person." Today, if you look up this kanji, the definition will probably be "one's talent" or "talent." Not too far off from "materials of a person," right? So, 才 doesn't even mean "years old" or "age" at all, yet it is commonly used that way. There's a simple reason why this is the case. Can you guess it? . . . . . The answer: 歳 has a lot of strokes and people are lazy. It's a very common word, so writing all thirteen strokes would get tiring (figuratively and literally). This all started in a Japanese TV broadcast 1953. On those blurry not-4k black-and-white television sets, 才 was way easier to distinguish. Now, 才 is taught in Japanese elementary schools, whereas 歳 is taught in junior high. You could say that 才 is the kid's way of writing さい and 歳 is for everyone else. In official settings, you should see 歳 being used. It is the "correct" version, after all. So, if you ever have a choice (and you're not feeling lazy), make sure to use 歳 when indicating someone's age (unless they're in elementary school). P.S. Don't try to replace 歳 with 才 in any other situation. Words such as 歳月 or 歳末 cannot be written as 才月 or 才末! The more you know. ♡, Tofugu Copyright © 2018 Tofugu, All rights reserved. You are receiving this e-mail because you signed up to get Tofugu Newsletters. Our mailing address is: Tofugu 117 SE Taylor St #303Portland, OR 97214 [Add us to your address book](//tofugu.us1.list-manage.com/vcard?u=b7f2114d74e3cac96344f797c&id=690819cc9d) Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](.