age
age — noun
1. the count of years for someone since their birth, or for an animal, plant, or ob
the count of years for someone since their birth, or for an animal, plant, or object since it first came into being.
Sofia learned to ride a bicycle at the age of five.
at the age of [number]
What is the age of that old oak tree behind the church?
The museum guard asked the boys their names and ages.
Mr. Otto retired from the railway at sixty years of age.
Children under the age of twelve must travel with an adult.
文法句型
at the age of [number]
[number] years of age
用法筆記
Frequently appears with the prepositions 'at', 'of', and 'under'. When stating a specific number, both 'at age 30' and 'at the age of 30' are natural; the second form is slightly more formal.
常見錯誤
2. used in the fixed phrase 'act your age', told to someone whose behaviour seems t
used in the fixed phrase 'act your age', told to someone whose behaviour seems too childish or silly for how old they are.
Stop throwing peas at your sister, Jamie, and act your age!
imperative form: act your age
Their father told the twins to act their age and stop whining.
Aunt Mei rolled her eyes and said, 'Honestly, act your age, Daniel.'
When the senator giggled at the joke, his wife whispered, 'Act your age.'
文法句型
act your age
用法筆記
Almost always used in the imperative 'act your age' or its possessive variants ('act their age'). Rarely appears outside this fixed phrase.
常見錯誤
3. the year of life at which the law allows a person to do something, such as drive
the year of life at which the law allows a person to do something, such as drive, vote, marry, or drink alcohol.
In Taiwan, the legal age for buying alcohol is eighteen.
the legal age for + activity
Dilnoza waited two years until he reached the age for driving a motorcycle.
The country lowered the voting age from twenty to eighteen last year.
Anna married above the age of consent set by her home country.
文法句型
age of [activity]
用法筆記
Often appears as a compound: 'voting age', 'drinking age', 'age of consent', 'age of majority'. Distinguish from sense 1: sense 3 names a legal threshold tied to an activity, not a person's current years.
常見錯誤
4. a long stretch of history that is remembered for one major thing, such as a rule
a long stretch of history that is remembered for one major thing, such as a ruler, an invention, a style, or a way of life.
We are now living in the age of artificial intelligence and instant news.
the age of + Noun
The Bronze Age began when people first learned to mix copper with tin.
the [Adjective] Age (capitalised)
Shakespeare wrote his plays during the Elizabethan age in England.
Many farmers feared the dawn of the steam age would end their craft.
文法句型
the [Adjective] Age
the age of [Noun]
用法筆記
Capitalised when naming a famous historical period (the Stone Age, the Middle Ages, the Industrial Age). Lower-case in looser phrases like 'the age of the internet'.
常見錯誤
5. a stretch of time that feels much longer than it really was — used as a friendly
a stretch of time that feels much longer than it really was — used as a friendly exaggeration, almost always in the plural.
Ines, I haven't seen you in ages — how have you been?
in ages (negative context)
The boys waited ages for the school bus in the freezing rain.
wait ages for + Noun
It took Gita ages to fix the broken tap under the kitchen sink.
We've been friends for ages, ever since primary school in Tainan.
- moment
a very short time
文法句型
ages / for ages / in ages
用法筆記
Almost always plural: 'ages', 'for ages', 'in ages'. The singular 'an age' in this meaning sounds British and slightly old-fashioned. The phrase exaggerates and is not used in formal writing.
常見錯誤
6. the natural process by which living things become old, together with the visible
the natural process by which living things become old, together with the visible signs of that process such as grey hair and weaker muscles.
Good wine, my grandfather said, only improves with age.
with age (process complement)
The marathon runner's knees showed the wear of age and hard training.
Age had softened the once-sharp anger in Mrs. Park's voice.
The wooden beams in the barn had darkened with age and rain.
- old age
the late stage of life specifically, not the whole process
- youth
the early period of life
文法句型
with age
the effects of age
用法筆記
Uncountable in this sense — never 'an age' or 'ages'. Distinguish from sense 1: sense 1 is a measurable number, sense 6 is the process and its effects. Often pairs with verbs of change ('improve, soften, darken with age').
常見錯誤
age — verb
1. to grow visibly older, or to make someone look or feel older than before — often
to grow visibly older, or to make someone look or feel older than before — often because of stress, illness, or hard times.
Mrs. Chen has aged a great deal since her husband passed away.
intransitive: subject + age
Two years of caring for his sick mother had aged Daniel terribly.
transitive: event + age + person
The actor refused to age his character with grey makeup or wrinkles.
Despite the long campaign, the Mayor seemed not to have aged at all.
- rejuvenate
to make young again; the opposite of the transitive sense
文法句型
[person/thing] ages
[event] ages [person]
用法筆記
Used both intransitively (people age) and transitively (events age people). The transitive use almost always carries a negative cause — grief, war, illness, stress.
常見錯誤
2. to keep a food or drink — especially cheese, wine, whisky, or meat — resting for
to keep a food or drink — especially cheese, wine, whisky, or meat — resting for a long time so that its taste grows richer and more pleasant.
The farmer ages his cheddar in a stone cellar for at least nine months.
transitive: age + food + for + period
This whisky has been aged in oak barrels since the year I was born.
passive: be aged in + container
Good beef ages well when the temperature in the locker stays steady.
Gita ages his homemade kimchi in clay pots buried near the back porch.
文法句型
age [food/drink] for [period]
[food/drink] ages
用法筆記
Subject or object is almost always a food or drink that grows tastier over time (cheese, wine, whisky, beef, kimchi, miso). Frequently passive: 'aged for [period]', 'aged in [container]'. Distinguish from verb sense 1, which is about people growing old.
常見錯誤
age — suffix
1. added to the end of a verb to make a noun that names the action of doing it, the
added to the end of a verb to make a noun that names the action of doing it, the way it is done, or the amount produced — for example, 'pass' + '-age' becomes 'passage'.
From the verb 'leak', we form the noun 'leakage', the act or amount of leaking.
verb 'leak' + -age → noun 'leakage'
'Marriage' comes from 'marry' plus '-age', meaning the action of being married.
Engineers measure water 'usage' by adding '-age' to the verb 'use'.
After the storm, the news reported the 'breakage' of windows along the coast.
文法句型
verb stem + -age → noun
用法筆記
This is a bound morpheme — '-age' never stands alone as a word. Stress usually stays on the original verb's syllable. Most '-age' nouns from this sense are uncountable when they refer to amount (leakage, usage, breakage), countable when they name an act (a marriage, a passage).
常見錯誤
2. added to the end of a noun to make a new noun that names a state, rank, or condi
added to the end of a noun to make a new noun that names a state, rank, or condition connected with the original noun — for example, 'bond' + '-age' becomes 'bondage'.
From 'parent', we form 'parentage', the state of having particular parents.
noun 'parent' + -age → noun 'parentage'
'Patron' plus '-age' gives 'patronage', the support a customer or sponsor offers.
In old novels, 'bondage' described the condition of being held as a slave.
The duke's 'peerage' marked his rank inside the British nobility.
文法句型
noun stem + -age → noun
用法筆記
Distinguish from suffix sense 1: sense 1 builds nouns from verbs (action), sense 2 builds nouns from nouns (state). Many '-age' words have a slightly literary or formal feel.
常見錯誤
3. added to the end of a word to make a noun that names a building, area, or place
added to the end of a word to make a noun that names a building, area, or place where something happens — for example, 'orphan' + '-age' becomes 'orphanage', a home for orphans.
'Orphanage' joins 'orphan' with '-age' to name a home for parentless children.
root 'orphan' + -age → place noun
The word 'parsonage' uses '-age' to name the house where a parson lives.
A 'hermitage' is a quiet place built for a hermit to live alone.
Old maps marked each 'vicarage' near the village church on the hill.
文法句型
root + -age → place noun
用法筆記
The smallest of the three '-age' meanings and largely closed — few new place words are coined this way. Most learners only need to recognise the existing words (orphanage, hermitage, parsonage, vicarage) rather than form new ones.