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In my mother language, I can say like this : "I got 18 years old today".

I want to use the same concept in english, but I googled the sentence structure, but did not get alot of hits.

So I was wondering, is it okay to use it this way, or there is a real correct way for it?

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4  
Try "turned" instead of "got," and see what happens. :^) – J.R. Jun 16 '12 at 10:16
I don't really understand the exact reason for got being wrong here, since you can say "I just got a year older". But native speakers certainly wouldn't use it. – Peter Shor Jun 16 '12 at 11:42
@Peter Shor: I think all such usage of "got" is relatively new and idiomatic, so things are probably somewhat "fluid". Today, I think most speakers are fine with "My wife got fat", and "I got annoyed", though for me at least they're slightly casual/informal usages. And I couldn't possibly endorse "I got disappointed", but quite possibly even that would be considered okay by many people a few decades from now. Me - I still wince at the standard American "What time you got?". – FumbleFingers Jun 16 '12 at 12:54
@FumbleFingers: In the U.S., "What time you got?" is considered ungrammatical, but is a common way to say "What time have you got?", which I would claim is grammatical. I'd consider it a different usage than "I got annoyed" or "I got disappointed". – Peter Shor Jun 16 '12 at 12:56
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It seems as though the fundamental key to this are the subtle differences between uses of the word got in constructs variously meaning acquire, become and possess, further complicated by some notable differences in usage between BrE and AmE. – Brian Nixon Jun 16 '12 at 21:22
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3 Answers

up vote 3 down vote accepted

I got 18 years old today"

//warning: not a native speaker.

"I've turned 22 years old today"(probably more correct) or "I've become 22-years old today".

"Just got 22 years old" sounds like you're talking about somebody else - to me it sounds like "the only person present at this location is 22 years old".

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A native speaker would probably say simply: I turned 22 today. – Shoe Jun 16 '12 at 10:33
"Just got 22 years old" is unidiomatic even when speaking about someone else. – Mark Beadles Jun 16 '12 at 18:38
@Shoe: Shouldn't be "I've turned" suitable for situation when person has just celebrate his/her birthday? – SigTerm Jun 16 '12 at 18:41
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@MarkBeadles: To me it sounds like this sentence is suitable for situation when you're describing (to somebody else) that aside from you there's only one 22 years old person in the room, although I might be wrong about that. Interestingly if you search for phrase "just got 20 years old", there will be some hits, but it looks like this sentence is used mostly by non-native speakers. – SigTerm Jun 16 '12 at 18:45
Yes, my intuition as a native speaker of US English is that it's not quite right. – Mark Beadles Jun 16 '12 at 18:47
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up vote 0 down vote

I would say I turned 22 today.

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up vote 2 down vote

*I got 18 years old today - wrong *I've become 22-years old today - wrong

*I turn 22 years old today - correct *I am 22 years old today - correct

From a native speaker in the UK :)

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2  
I'm not so sure I'd label become as "wrong." Maybe a little "awkward", maybe "unusual" in that context, but not "wrong". What will happen to the children, after they become 18? It can work. – J.R. Jun 16 '12 at 11:04
Also "I have turned 22 years old today" or "Today I became 22", "Today is my 22nd birthday", "I reached 22 today" etc.etc.etc... – Wolf5370 Jun 17 '12 at 18:19

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