Quantity questions are phrases for asking questions like "how
much?" or "how many?" You'll need to use the question word 几
(jǐ) with measure words
for this.
Asking About Small
Numbers with 几 (jǐ)
Structure
You can use the quantity question word 几 (jǐ) instead of a number to
ask about quantity with measure words.
Subj. + Verb + 几 + Measure Word + Noun？
Examples
- 他 有 几 个 孩子？Tā yǒu jǐ gè
háizi?How many kids does he
have?
- 你 家 有 几 个 房间？ Nǐ jiā yǒu
jǐ gè fángjiān?How many rooms
are there in your house?
- 他们 在 这里 住 几 个 星期？ Tāmen zài zhèlǐ
zhù jǐ gè xīngqī?How many weeks
are they staying here?
- 你 带 了 几 件 衣服？ Nǐ dài le
jǐ jiàn yīfu?How many pieces of
clothing have you brought?
- 老板 每 天 工作 几 个 小时 ？ Lǎobǎn měi
tiān gōngzuò jǐ gè xiǎoshí? How
many hours does the boss work every day?
Asking About Big
Numbers with 多少 (duōshao)
When the number is not certain but you assume it's definitely
more than ten, it's better to ask the question with 多少 (duōshao)
instead of 几 (jǐ).
Structure
Subj. + Verb + 多少 + Measure Word + Noun ？
Examples
- 你 去 过 多少 个 国家？Nǐ qù guo
duōshao gè guójiā?How many
countries have you been to?
- 你们 班 有 多少 个 学生？Nǐmen bān yǒu
duōshao gè xuéshēng?How many
students are there in your class?
- 你 大学 的 时候 看 了 多少 本 书？Nǐ dàxué de
shíhou kàn le duōshao běn shū?How many books did you read when you were in
college?
- 他们 昨天 请 了 多少 个 朋友？ Tāmen zuótiān
qǐng le duōshao gè péngyou?How
many friends did they invite yesterday?
- 上海 有 多少 个 外国 公司？ Shànghǎi yǒu
duōshao gè wàiguó gōngsī?How
many foreign companies are there in Shanghai?
See also
Sources and further
reading
Books
Category:A2 grammar points Category:Measure
words