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

I want to use the same concept in English, but I googled the sentence structure, and did not get a lot of hits.

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

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    Try "turned" instead of "got," and see what happens. :^)
    – J.R.
    Commented Jun 16, 2012 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
    Commented Jun 16, 2012 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
    Commented Jun 16, 2012 at 12:54
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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
    Commented Jun 16, 2012 at 21:22
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    In “I just got 22 years old” it sounds like “22 years old” is a disease.
    – GEdgar
    Commented Apr 21, 2019 at 10:47

5 Answers 5

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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
    Commented Jun 16, 2012 at 10:33
  • 2
    "Just got 22 years old" is unidiomatic even when speaking about someone else.
    – Mark Beadles
    Commented Jun 16, 2012 at 18:38
  • @Shoe: Shouldn't be "I've turned" suitable for situation when person has just celebrate his/her birthday?
    – SigTerm
    Commented Jun 16, 2012 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
    Commented Jun 16, 2012 at 18:45
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    Yes, my intuition as a native speaker of US English is that it's not quite right.
    – Mark Beadles
    Commented Jun 16, 2012 at 18:47
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*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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    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.
    Commented Jun 16, 2012 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
    Commented Jun 17, 2012 at 18:19
  • @J.R. TLM is saying the sentence given "I've become 22-years old today" is wrong. Some other use of 'become' might be right.
    – Mitch
    Commented Jan 7, 2014 at 14:46
  • @Mitch - Yes, that's what I meant – I wouldn't label "I've become 22 years old today" as wrong. While it may not sound all that natural, and it's not how I would announce it, I can't find any reason to deem it incorrect.
    – J.R.
    Commented Jan 7, 2014 at 14:52
  • @J.R. OK. Well then count me a vote for the opposite direction. It sounds wrong to me.
    – Mitch
    Commented Jan 7, 2014 at 14:55
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I would say I turned 22 today.

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I have reached 22, often accompanied by a qualifier, such as: the ripe old age of.... would be acceptable, and more in the spirit of 'I got'. It would not be very good English, but you could say: I have got to 22 so far, giving the impression that it has been a struggle or that it is one step along a road. It is frustrating how use of idiom can make it difficult to express complex ideas simply in foreign languages.

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    Welcome to SE! There is already an accepted answer to this question. How does your answer improve what has already been posted?
    – miltonaut
    Commented Apr 21, 2019 at 14:13
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It‘s a very easy question. Spanish uses „to have“ when it comes describing age. Englisch (and probably most Germanic languages) use the verb „to be“. So, one is a particular age. One doesn’t have a particular age. „I am 22 today“ or „I am 22“ are possibilities. When it‘s your birthday, English uses the verb „to turn“, like everyone else mentioned. So it‘s „I turned 22 today.“ There‘s no explanation for it. You could say „I became 22 today“ but that would sound a bit formal, and a little odd. Stick with „turn“ and you will be saying what 99% of native speakers would say.

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  • Hi Jan, welcome to EL&U. Note that our site is a bit different from the others: it's not a forum for posting opinions. Instead, we're looking for correct, authoritative answers, preferably supported by evidence. I don't see what value your post adds to the existing answers, and the non-English orthography is off-putting. For guidance, see How to Answer and take the Tour.
    – Chappo Hasn't Forgotten
    Commented Apr 21, 2019 at 23:39
  • Well, was my answer incorrect? You said you are looking for „authoritative“ answers, but English has no official language authority, like the German Duden, so who is the authority? And if there is no authority, then isn’t everything everyone’s opinion? You also asked for supporting evidence. What kind of evidence? Sorry if the quotation marks seem offputting, „ ...“but I use a German language keyboard and that‘s how quotation marks are done in German. I can‘t change that.
    – Jan
    Commented Apr 22, 2019 at 1:26
  • For word meanings and usage, OED is seen as definitive but any of the major online dictionaries (Oxford, M-W, Collins, Macmillan, Cambridge) are regarded as authoritative, and other online dictionaries, Wikipedia, Google Ngrams, major style guides, reputable grammar websites, etynomline etc are also commonly used for supporting evidence. The point being, they help differentiate an answer from mere personal opinion. Some find this too formal and burdensome, in which case Quora or Reddit might be a better fit.
    – Chappo Hasn't Forgotten
    Commented Apr 22, 2019 at 1:59

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