I am ... years old

Tom Bombadil #431

How can one say that in Quenya? I guess it would be completely wrong to say: "Nánye ... loar enwina", at least because of the word order, but probably also because this is a wrong use of enwina. I think that there are at least two possible alternatives, but I don't know the vocabulary which would be required:

  1. I experienced years ... (what is experience?)

  2. I live since years ... (what is a word for since? I guess that pan is useless because it's actual meaning is because.)

Maybe one could just say: I saw years ... (Cennen loar ...), but that is not very specific. So, now my actual question: How can we use the adverb "ago" in a sentence, which describes a person's age? I imagine something like "I was born ... years ago" or "My birth is ... years ago", but I neither know the exact word order nor a verb for "to be born".

Can I just say: "I yesta cuivienyo ná loar ... enge/auta."

Ps. Or maybe even "I'm alive for years ..." (Nálye cuina an loar ...). Can we use an in this way?

Tamas Ferencz #432

Indeed that's a problem that has come up for many writers. My personal solution to this is to use the verb oi- "live, pass one's days. The present perfect of oi- is oine "have lived" so "Marko is seven years old" would be Marko oine koranari otso "Marko has lived seven years." But other solutions may be equally valid.

Helge Kåre Fauskanger #434

In my Bible translations I sort of invented the idiom to "have" a number of years, e.g. "Marco same loar otso" = Marko has seven years, that is, he has an age of seven years.

Dírheron #436

That is how many Romance languages express it. Ex. Spanish, Tengo siete años. I have seven years.