"Мне 20 лет" or "20 года"?
In English, we always use "year" or "years" when speaking about age. But in Russian, it’s more nuanced.
Look:
🎀 Год → Used with numbers ending in 1 (except 11):
- 21 год (twenty-one year)
- 31 год (thirty-one year)
🎀 Года → Used with numbers ending in 2, 3, 4 (except 12–14):
- 2 года (two years)
- 33 года (thirty-three years)
🎀 Лет → For numbers ending in 0, 5–9, and 11–19:
- 5 лет (five years)
- 11 лет (eleven years)
- 20 лет (twenty years)
🪩 Exceptions:
12–14 always use "лет":
12 лет (twelve years)
But: 22 года (twenty-two years)!
💎 Examples:
✔ Мне 21 год (ends with 1, not 11)
✔ Ему 33 года (ends with 3)
✔ Ей 25 лет (ends with 5)