Year old vs. Year-old 

"Year old" vs. "Year-old" in the English Grammar

What Is Their Main Difference?

Both Indicate the age. However, 'year old' simply describes someone's age, whereas, 'year-old' comes when it functions as an adjective.

Differences

We use 'year old' when we are mainly describing someone's age, whereas, 'year-old' comes when it functions as an adjective. Look at the examples below:

Example

How can a 17 year-old kill half of the humanity?

Hello. I'm Sara. I'm 55 years old.

Similarities

Both point out someone's age. Check out the examples below:

Example

You're five years old?

A 20 year-old girl like you can never beat me in anything.

Are They Interchangeable?

Since they have different grammatical functions, if we use them interchangeably, our sentence will be incorrect. Compare:

Example

✓ It seems that a 15 year-old boy has led these protests.

X It seems that a 15 years old boy has led these protests.

Comments

(4)
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DKC
Jan 2024
In the last example, there should be 'led' after has. Not 'has lead'. It should be '.... has led...'
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Langeek
Jan 2024
Thanks for the feedback! We fixed it.
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Nouria mekkaoui
Sep 2023
Which IS correct years old or year old
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Langeek
Sep 2023
Thank you for your comment! Both are correct, but they are used in different ways depending on whether you're specifying an exact age or using it as an adjective.
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