We useageas a noun to refer to how many years someone has lived:
She looks a lot younger but she is actually the sameageas me.
At the age of …is a common expression:
He started to play golfat the age ofthree.
The two sisters started their careers as teachersat the ages ofthirty and thirty-three.
We don’t sayin the age ofwhen we refer to people’s age:
Children normally start schoolat the age offive.
Not:Children normally start school in the age of five.
When we talk about someone’s age, we useof ageorold.Of agesounds more formal thanold:
He is a fully qualified pilot and is only twenty-five yearsof age.(more formal)
He is a fully qualified pilot and is only twenty-five yearsold.(less formal)
When asking direct questions about someone’s age or the age of a thing, we don’t normally useage. We sayHow old …?
How oldare you?
Not:What is your age?
How oldis your car?
Not:What age is your car?
We only useWhat age …?in more formal situations:
What agewas the child when she first showed signs of the illness?
Ageoragescan also be used to mean ‘a long time’, or a specific long period in history:
It seems anagesince we last saw them.
During the IceAge, the whole of Britain was covered in a sheet of ice.
I waited for them foragesbut they must have forgotten about the meeting.
We saythe Middle Agesto refer to the period of European history from about the sixth to the sixteenth century AD:
Life inthe Middle Ageswas very hard for most people.
Not:Life in the middle age…
Middle age and middle-agedrefer to a person’s life from the ages of about 40 to 65:
Middle ageis the most prosperous time of life for many people.
Manymiddle-agedpeople go to keep-fit classes.