Spanish speakers say "tengo 25 aņos¨ as a shorter way of
saying ¨tengo cumplidos 25 aņos (de vida)¨ or literally in
English "I have completed 25 years (of life)". If you think
it about this is a more logical way of expressing the
completion of a certain period of time then to use the verb
to be like in English. And even in English a student could
say "I have completed 3 years of High School" It's the same
idea and not so strange when you put it that way.

On 11/07/09, lindsay wrote:
> My students want to know why you use "tener" with age
> instead of "ser". I am 15 instead of "I have 15 years." I
> just know that is how I learned it. Nobody ever explained
> the "why" to me. I told them that I would get back with
> them on that on Monday. I guess next they would probably
> ask me about "tener frio" instead of "estar frio". Could
> anyone help me? I think that "estar frio" would mean "cold
> to the touch" and "tener frio" would be internal body
> temperature, but I could be completely wrong here. Any
> answers would be helpful. Gracias.

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