Quantity questions are phrases for asking questions like "how much?" or
"how many?" You'll need to use the [question
word](Placement_of_question_words "wikilink") 几 (jǐ) with [measure
words](measure_word "wikilink") for this.

Asking About Small Numbers with 几 (jǐ)
---------------------------------------

### Structure

You can use the quantity [question
word](Placement_of_question_words "wikilink") 几 (jǐ) instead of a
number to ask about quantity with [measure
words](Measure_words_for_counting "wikilink").

<div class="jiegou">
Subj. + Verb + 几 + Measure Word + Noun？

</div>
### Examples

<div class="liju">
-   他 有 <em>几</em> 个 孩子？<span class="pinyin">Tā yǒu <em>jǐ</em>
    gè háizi?</span><span class="trans">How many kids does he
    have?</span>
-   你 家 有 <em>几</em> 个 房间？ <span class="pinyin">Nǐ jiā yǒu
    <em>jǐ</em> gè fángjiān?</span><span class="trans">How many rooms
    are there in your house?</span>
-   他们 在 这里 住 <em>几</em> 个 星期？ <span class="pinyin">Tāmen zài
    zhèlǐ zhù <em>jǐ</em> gè xīngqī?</span><span class="trans">How many
    weeks are they staying here?</span>
-   你 带 了 <em>几</em> 件 衣服？ <span class="pinyin">Nǐ dài le
    <em>jǐ</em> jiàn yīfu?</span><span class="trans">How many pieces of
    clothing have you brought?</span>
-   老板 每 天 工作 <em>几</em> 个 小时 ？ <span class="pinyin">Lǎobǎn
    měi tiān gōngzuò <em>jǐ</em> gè xiǎoshí?
    </span><span class="trans">How many hours does the boss work every
    day?</span>

</div>
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

<div class="jiegou">
Subj. + Verb + 多少 + Measure Word + Noun ？

</div>
### Examples

<div class="liju">
-   你 去 过 <em>多少</em> 个 国家？<span class="pinyin">Nǐ qù guo
    <em>duōshao</em> gè guójiā?</span><span class="trans">How many
    countries have you been to?</span>
-   你们 班 有 <em>多少</em> 个 学生？<span class="pinyin">Nǐmen bān yǒu
    <em>duōshao</em> gè xuéshēng?</span><span class="trans">How many
    students are there in your class?</span>
-   你 大学 的 时候 看 了 <em>多少</em> 本 书？<span class="pinyin">Nǐ
    dàxué de shíhou kàn le <em>duōshao</em> běn
    shū?</span><span class="trans">How many books did you read when you
    were in college? </span>
-   他们 昨天 请 了 <em>多少</em> 个 朋友？ <span class="pinyin">Tāmen
    zuótiān qǐng le <em>duōshao</em> gè
    péngyou?</span><span class="trans">How many friends did they invite
    yesterday?</span>
-   上海 有 <em>多少</em> 个 外国 公司？ <span class="pinyin">Shànghǎi
    yǒu <em>duōshao</em> gè wàiguó gōngsī?</span><span class="trans">How
    many foreign companies are there in Shanghai? </span>

</div>
See also
--------

-   [Measure words to
    differentiate](Measure_words_to_differentiate "wikilink")
-   [Measure Words for Verbs](Measure_Words_for_Verbs "wikilink")
-   [Measure words for counting](Measure_words_for_counting "wikilink")

Sources and further reading
---------------------------

### Books

-   [New Practical Chinese Reader
    1 (新实用汉语课本1)](New_Practical_Chinese_Reader_1_(新实用汉语课本1) "wikilink") (p.
    105)
    [→buy](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/7561910401/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=allset-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=7561910401)
-   [New Practical Chinese Reader 1
    (新实用汉语课本1)(2nd ed)](New_Practical_Chinese_Reader_1_(新实用汉语课本1)(2nd_ed) "wikilink") (p.
    123)
    [→buy](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/7561926235/ref%3das_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=allset-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=7561926235)
-   [40 Lessons for Basic Chinese Course
    (基础汉语40课上册）](40_Lessons_for_Basic_Chinese_Course_(基础汉语40课上册） "wikilink") (p.
    86)[→buy](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001FTL8D8/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001FTL8D8&linkCode=as2&tag=allset-20)

[Category:A2 grammar points](Category:A2_grammar_points "wikilink")
[Category:Measure words](Category:Measure_words "wikilink")