<p>you need correct punctuation here.</p>

<p>the correct writing of 他大概三四岁左右 is 他大概三、四岁左右。</p>

<p>for the meaning of "he is probably around 9 or 10 years old", you have to add "、" as "他大概九、十岁左右。" and when you speak it out, you need a short pause between 九 and 十, otherwise it is interpreted as "he is probably around 90 years old".</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-09T23:20:49.487Z
There isn't any pause between 三 and 四 in speech practically, which is the whole point of idiomatic.
dan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-10T01:03:13.373Z
yes, practically, for any two numbers that won't cause confusion when put together. A pause is normally added in both writing and speaking in case like “九十” vs ”九、十“ to avoid ambiguity.
yy502
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-09T22:16:49.257Z
2019-12-09T22:16:49.257Z
yy502
<p>In this case we usually say 十来岁</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-09T06:23:30.540Z
2019-12-09T06:23:30.540Z
northest
<p>Of course you can, but it is up to the speaker/writer to clear the ambiguity. It's not good usage, but commonly seen nonetheless. With sufficient context, it shouldn't be a problem.</p>

<p>Nowadays, people tend to simply use numbers (123) rather than characters 一二三, especially when texting. I hope you can tell the difference between</p>

<p>这个小孩大概78岁 (Of course good practice would be to put a space in between)</p>

<p>这个老人大概78岁</p>

<p>And I'm sure you understand 他大概910岁 :)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-12T00:09:42.050Z
Sorry, but 这个小孩大概78岁 is not a good practice. It has to be 这个小孩大概七八岁. We shouldn't recommend that to second language learners.
dan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-12T01:07:24.217Z
@dan, I made it clear that it's not good practice, but it's common usage. Language is not just what you write or say, you also have to understand what others wrote or said. Same as the English structure 'Everyone has not arrived' -- not good practice, but a foreigner has to know its existence.
jf328
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-12T01:24:44.607Z
I doubt if it's common. "Everyone has not arrived" doesn't engaged any confusions, but 大概78岁 does. I accept 大概7岁 for 大概七岁, but not 大概78岁 for 大概七八岁. I personally have never seen one wrote 他34岁 to mean 他三四岁.
dan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-10T09:02:13.560Z
2019-12-10T09:02:13.560Z
jf328
<p>Most probably you already know 七七八八 does not mean seven or eight or seven to eight?</p>

<p>How about “不三不四”</p>

<p>And 八十有三？</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-09T04:30:56.557Z
2019-12-09T04:30:56.557Z
Wayne Cheah
<p>No, since 九十 already means <strong>exactly</strong> 'ninety', it cannot be use as an <strong>approximat</strong>e figure for 'nine or ten' </p>

<p>'nine or ten years old' has to be written as "九至十岁"</p>

<p>You can say 十一二 (11 or t2) , 十三四 (13 or 14) or even 十五六七 (15 to 17) but not 九十 (9 or 10)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-09T23:47:14.467Z
九至十 is between 9 and 10 years old, "九或十" is more correct way to express it. Let's say this with "三四", it would refer to "3 or 4", since "三十四" means "34". But when you talk about "九十" or "十九" it would be "90" or "19" since "十" confused the meaning.
Weijing Jay Lin
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-10T00:49:08.230Z
@Weijing Jay "Between 9 and 10" is "either 9 or ten"(or in between). It is true that the literal translation of  "9 or 10" is "九或十"  (exactly 9 or exactly 10).  But colloquially,  saying "九至十岁"  is the common standard. When we say "he is nine or ten years old" we don't actually mean he is exactly 9 or exactly 10,  we actually mean he is between 9 to 10 years old. (九至十岁)
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-09T04:06:22.577Z
2019-12-09T04:06:22.577Z
Tang Ho
<p>It's normal in Chinese to say something like:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>他大概<strong>三四</strong>岁左右 (<a href="https://www.douban.com/note/636868546/?from=author" rel="nofollow noreferrer">source</a>)<br>
  he is probably around 3 or 4 years old</p>
</blockquote>

<p>This is called <a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Approximating_with_sequential_numbers" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Approximating with sequential numbers</a> on the Chinese Grammar Wiki.</p>

<p>However, 九十 is problematic because <a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E4%B9%9D%E5%8D%81" rel="nofollow noreferrer">九十</a> ordinarily means "ninety".</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>他大概<strong>九十</strong>岁左右<br>
  he is probably around 9 or 10 years old<br>
  he is probably around 90 years old  </p>
</blockquote>

<p><strong>Question</strong>: Can 九十 also mean "nine or ten"?</p>

<p>It may simply be that we're not allowed to use 九十 to mean "nine or ten" (i.e., it's an exception), or perhaps "nine or ten" vs. "ninety" is usually inferrable from context.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-09T22:35:08.327Z
九，十岁左右 in writing, while 九 (pause a second) 十岁左右.  Not a good practice as it is still ambiguous.  九至十岁would make things clear
Alex
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-09T04:27:43.350Z
I think when it comes to speaking, it might be. You have to identify from the subtle difference from people speaking. In terms of writing, it has to be 九、十岁左右 to mean nine or ten years old, so there's no ambiguity.
sylvia
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-09T04:31:26.570Z
A high school 语文老师 may scold you for 三四岁左右, though. Because it's a 病句.
Toosky Hierot
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-09T05:25:31.720Z
@sylvia 九，十岁左右 is stilted in both speaking and writing. People might say 十岁左右，不到十岁，九岁多，etc.
dan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-09T05:31:47.090Z
@TooskyHierot  nothing wrong with 他大概三四岁左右, which is quite natural in speech.
dan
<meaning-in-context><word><number><ambiguity>
Can 九十 = "ninety" also mean "nine or ten" (like how 三四 means "three or four")?
# Can 九十 = "ninety" also mean "nine or ten" (like how 三四 means "three or four")?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-12-09)

It's normal in Chinese to say something like:

> 他大概**三四**岁左右 ([source](https://www.douban.com/note/636868546/?from=author))  
> he is probably around 3 or 4 years old

This is called [Approximating with sequential numbers](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Approximating_with_sequential_numbers) on the Chinese Grammar Wiki.

However, 九十 is problematic because [九十](http://youdao.com/w/%E4%B9%9D%E5%8D%81) ordinarily means "ninety".

> 他大概**九十**岁左右  
> he is probably around 9 or 10 years old  
> he is probably around 90 years old

**Question**: Can 九十 also mean "nine or ten"?

It may simply be that we're not allowed to use 九十 to mean "nine or ten" (i.e., it's an exception), or perhaps "nine or ten" vs. "ninety" is usually inferrable from context.

**Tags:** meaning-in-context, word, number, ambiguity
> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: I think when it comes to speaking, it might be. You have to identify from the subtle difference from people speaking. In terms of writing, it has to be 九、十岁左右 to mean nine or ten years old, so there's no ambiguity.  
> **username_3**: A high school 语文老师 may scold you for 三四岁左右, though. Because it's a 病句.  
> **username_4**: @sylvia 九，十岁左右 is stilted in both speaking and writing. People might say 十岁左右，不到十岁，九岁多，etc.  
> **username_4**: @TooskyHierot  nothing wrong with 他大概三四岁左右, which is quite natural in speech.  
> **username_1**: 九，十岁左右 in writing, while 九 (pause a second) 十岁左右.  Not a good practice as it is still ambiguous.  九至十岁would make things clear  

---

## 5 answers

### Answer by username_9 on 2019-12-09. Score: 6 | Accepted answer

No, since 九十 already means **exactly** 'ninety', it cannot be use as an **approximat**e figure for 'nine or ten'

'nine or ten years old' has to be written as "九至十岁"

You can say 十一二 (11 or t2) , 十三四 (13 or 14) or even 十五六七 (15 to 17) but not 九十 (9 or 10)

> **Comments:**
> **username_10**: 九至十 is between 9 and 10 years old, "九或十" is more correct way to express it. Let's say this with "三四", it would refer to "3 or 4", since "三十四" means "34". But when you talk about "九十" or "十九" it would be "90" or "19" since "十" confused the meaning.  
> **username_9**: @Weijing Jay "Between 9 and 10" is "either 9 or ten"(or in between). It is true that the literal translation of  "9 or 10" is "九或十"  (exactly 9 or exactly 10).  But colloquially,  saying "九至十岁"  is the common standard. When we say "he is nine or ten years old" we don't actually mean he is exactly 9 or exactly 10,  we actually mean he is between 9 to 10 years old. (九至十岁)  

---

### Answer by username_5 on 2019-12-09. Score: 2

you need correct punctuation here.

the correct writing of 他大概三四岁左右 is 他大概三、四岁左右。

for the meaning of "he is probably around 9 or 10 years old", you have to add "、" as "他大概九、十岁左右。" and when you speak it out, you need a short pause between 九 and 十, otherwise it is interpreted as "he is probably around 90 years old".

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: There isn't any pause between 三 and 四 in speech practically, which is the whole point of idiomatic.  
> **username_5**: yes, practically, for any two numbers that won't cause confusion when put together. A pause is normally added in both writing and speaking in case like “九十” vs ”九、十“ to avoid ambiguity.  

---

### Answer by username_6 on 2019-12-09. Score: 2

In this case we usually say 十来岁


---

### Answer by username_7 on 2019-12-10. Score: 0

Of course you can, but it is up to the speaker/writer to clear the ambiguity. It's not good usage, but commonly seen nonetheless. With sufficient context, it shouldn't be a problem.

Nowadays, people tend to simply use numbers (123) rather than characters 一二三, especially when texting. I hope you can tell the difference between

这个小孩大概78岁 (Of course good practice would be to put a space in between)

这个老人大概78岁

And I'm sure you understand 他大概910岁 :)

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: Sorry, but 这个小孩大概78岁 is not a good practice. It has to be 这个小孩大概七八岁. We shouldn't recommend that to second language learners.  
> **username_7**: @dan, I made it clear that it's not good practice, but it's common usage. Language is not just what you write or say, you also have to understand what others wrote or said. Same as the English structure 'Everyone has not arrived' -- not good practice, but a foreigner has to know its existence.  
> **username_4**: I doubt if it's common. "Everyone has not arrived" doesn't engaged any confusions, but 大概78岁 does. I accept 大概7岁 for 大概七岁, but not 大概78岁 for 大概七八岁. I personally have never seen one wrote 他34岁 to mean 他三四岁.  

---

### Answer by username_8 on 2019-12-09. Score: 0

Most probably you already know 七七八八 does not mean seven or eight or seven to eight?

How about “不三不四”

And 八十有三？


---

