"Скільки вам років?"

Translation: How old are you?

[purplesyrup]

I hear "skirki" instead of what I assume should be more like "skilyki" ("ly" being like the "gl" sound in Italian or "lj" in Serbo-Croatian). Why is this so?

[SamanthaMJones]

Why is it вам and not вас? Where do I use which?

[Vinnfred]

Вам is dative. Вас is genitive and accusative. You usually need to memorize which verbs require which case.

[vytah]

Literally, the sentence means "How many years are there to you?" "To you" → dative.

[Mikluk]

I thought it translated to "How many are your years?"!!

[Shady_arc]

The usuall age expression is impersonal and uses Dative.

Fortunately, it falls under the pattern that works for a whole range of similar expressions («Мені холодно», «Мені хочеться спати»; even «Йому подобається цей сік», though it is a bit different).

[nadine29]

Why is it pronounced rokiv and not rokiw?

[Mikluk]

В always makes the v sounds, such as Віктор.

[MichailoGM]

В is sometimes pronounced as w, like in вчора (wchóra) or любов (l'oobów) or Львів (l'veew). I don't know why it isn't w here: it is often w before a consonant or at the end of word. However, років here is not pronounced with a hard в as in Віктор. It sounds more like an f (unvoiced f as in off, NOT the voiced f in of). It might be a regional variation or an irregular form.

[JacobLynn]

How many years old are you? Should be accepted.