二十歳

(2 entries)
はたち
Alternative readings: にじゅっさい, にじっさい
Alternative writings: 20歳, 20才, 二十, 廿
JLPT:N5
Frequency:

1Twenty years old. Usually read with the special kun reading 'hatachi'; in the forms with 歳/才, it can also be read 'nijussai' or 'nijissai'. Culturally significant in Japan as an age associated with adulthood and the coming-of-age ceremony.

Noun

Examples

彼女は今年はたちになる。

She turns twenty this year.

二十歳になると日本ではお酒が飲めるようになる。

In Japan, you can legally drink alcohol once you turn twenty.

成人式は二十歳を祝う大切な行事だ。

The coming-of-age ceremony is an important event celebrating turning twenty.

二十歳の誕生日に家族で食事に行った。

I went out to dinner with my family on my twentieth birthday.

2(archaic) An old word for the number twenty itself. Sometimes written 廿. Essentially unused in modern Japanese; encountered mainly in classical texts or old documents.

NounArchaic