<blockquote>
<p><em>还 has the meaning such as &quot;still&quot; or &quot;yet&quot;</em>.</p>
<p><em>Why is 还 not correct in this situation?</em></p>
</blockquote>
<ul>
<li>For 还 to mean &quot;still&quot; you need to use it before a verb like 是 (is / be)</li>
</ul>
<p>Example: &quot;我的生日是明天，所以凌晨前我<strong>還是</strong> (is still) 二十七歲&quot;</p>
<ul>
<li>For  还 to mean &quot;yet&quot; you need to use it with 未 and before a verb</li>
</ul>
<p>Example: &quot;我<strong>还未</strong>到二十七歲&quot; , &quot;我<strong>还未</strong>滿廿七歲&quot; or  &quot;我<strong>还未</strong>足二十七歲&quot; (all mean I am not 27 yet)</p>
<p>&quot;我才廿七歲&quot; = &quot;I am only 27&quot; implies it is a young age from your point of view. It is in fact short for &quot;我才(只有-only)二十七歲&quot;</p>
<p>The simplest answer to the question &quot;你多大年纪?&quot; is &quot;我今年二十七歲&quot; or simply &quot;我廿七歲&quot; This answer already indicated you are currently 27, which mean you are still 27, not 28 yet</p>
<p>Edit:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>I was going to imply is not if I'm (still) 27 or 28 but if I'm also as young as the friend.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>It would be &quot;我也祇是二十七歲&quot;</p>
<p>[我也 (I too)] [祇是 (is only)]  [二十七歲 (27 years old)]</p>
<p>No matter your friend is 21 years or 30 years young, the above statement implies you are also young at the age of 27</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-07T09:05:00.650Z
廿 is, basically, never used in Mandarin like this.
Mou某
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-07T09:07:26.830Z
Change it to 二十七歲 then
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-07T12:19:35.527Z
Thanks but what I was going to imply is not if I'm (still) 27 or 28 but if I'm also as young as the friend.
Blaszard
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-07T12:27:56.750Z
See my edit at the bottom of my post.
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-07T08:56:14.350Z
2018-03-07T12:27:25.043Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
Tang Ho
<p>Nobody says "我还27岁", but you can say "我还 ‘不到’ 27岁 "(I am not 27 yet)."我还 ‘不到’ 21岁, 我不能喝酒 "
"我还未到二十七歲"  is way to formal. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-07T17:36:33.333Z
2018-03-07T17:36:33.333Z
Andy
<p>Although you are trying to say "I'm still 27.", "还" does not work in this context, since it is only used to imply <em>an action is still ongoing</em> or <em>something still exists</em>. Grammatically speaking, it should be used before a verb, not a noun.</p>

<p>On the other hand, "才" in this context is used to emphasize <em>a (merely) small quantity</em>. Therefore, it should be put before a noun. There are other usage of "才", making it can be put before a verb, but that's a different case.</p>

<p>Maybe this example will help you to notice the usage of "还" and "才" (example from <a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Using_%22cai%22_for_small_numbers" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Chinese Grammar Wiki</a>).</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>你<strong>才</strong>一百斤，<strong>还</strong>要减肥？</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-07T13:23:54.413Z
or before an adjective, e.g. 我还年轻
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-07T08:54:12.867Z
2018-03-07T08:54:12.867Z
Reynaldi
<p>This is the conversation my friend and I had:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>X：你多大年纪</p>
<p>I：我还27岁</p>
<p>X：还？</p>
<p>I：27岁是1990年出生的，跟你同一的90后</p>
<p>X：那应该说，我才27岁</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I was going to make an impression that I'm <em>only</em> 27, which implies that I'm not so old yet, even from her stardard. But she said 还 is not the correct word and I should use 才 here.</p>
<p>还 has the meaning such as &quot;still&quot; or &quot;yet&quot;.</p>
<p>Why is 还 not correct in this situation?</p>

<word-choice>
Why is 才 correct but 还 not in 我才27岁?
# Why is 才 correct but 还 not in 我才27岁?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-03-07)

This is the conversation my friend and I had:

> X：你多大年纪
>
> I：我还27岁
>
> X：还？
>
> I：27岁是1990年出生的，跟你同一的90后
>
> X：那应该说，我才27岁

I was going to make an impression that I'm *only* 27, which implies that I'm not so old yet, even from her stardard. But she said 还 is not the correct word and I should use 才 here.

还 has the meaning such as "still" or "yet".

Why is 还 not correct in this situation?

**Tags:** word-choice


---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2018-03-07. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

Although you are trying to say "I'm still 27.", "还" does not work in this context, since it is only used to imply *an action is still ongoing* or *something still exists*. Grammatically speaking, it should be used before a verb, not a noun.

On the other hand, "才" in this context is used to emphasize *a (merely) small quantity*. Therefore, it should be put before a noun. There are other usage of "才", making it can be put before a verb, but that's a different case.

Maybe this example will help you to notice the usage of "还" and "才" (example from [Chinese Grammar Wiki](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Using_%22cai%22_for_small_numbers)).

> 你**才**一百斤，**还**要减肥？

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: or before an adjective, e.g. 我还年轻  

---

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-03-07. Score: 3

> *还 has the meaning such as "still" or "yet"*.
>
> *Why is 还 not correct in this situation?*

* For 还 to mean "still" you need to use it before a verb like 是 (is / be)

Example: "我的生日是明天，所以凌晨前我**還是** (is still) 二十七歲"

* For 还 to mean "yet" you need to use it with 未 and before a verb

Example: "我**还未**到二十七歲" , "我**还未**滿廿七歲" or "我**还未**足二十七歲" (all mean I am not 27 yet)

"我才廿七歲" = "I am only 27" implies it is a young age from your point of view. It is in fact short for "我才(只有-only)二十七歲"

The simplest answer to the question "你多大年纪?" is "我今年二十七歲" or simply "我廿七歲" This answer already indicated you are currently 27, which mean you are still 27, not 28 yet

Edit:

> *I was going to imply is not if I'm (still) 27 or 28 but if I'm also as young as the friend.*

It would be "我也祇是二十七歲"

[我也 (I too)] [祇是 (is only)] [二十七歲 (27 years old)]

No matter your friend is 21 years or 30 years young, the above statement implies you are also young at the age of 27

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: 廿 is, basically, never used in Mandarin like this.  
> **username_1**: Change it to 二十七歲 then  
> **username_0**: Thanks but what I was going to imply is not if I'm (still) 27 or 28 but if I'm also as young as the friend.  
> **username_1**: See my edit at the bottom of my post.  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2018-03-07. Score: 1

Nobody says "我还27岁", but you can say "我还 ‘不到’ 27岁 "(I am not 27 yet)."我还 ‘不到’ 21岁, 我不能喝酒 "
"我还未到二十七歲" is way to formal.


---

