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