zhongwen-obsidian/Interrogative Measures.md

#几 #多少 #question

Measure words are also required in questions asking for a number/quantity. The interrogative word, 几jǐ or 多少duōshao, appears before the measure word. Generally 几jǐ is used for anticipated answers smaller than 10, and 多少duōshao is used for any.

• 几 + (measure word)
  1. 你们有几个中文老师？ nǐmen yǒu jǐge Zhōngwén lǎoshī How many Chinese teachers do you have? (Expecting ~1-3)
  2. 你有几个姐姐妹妹？ nǐ yǒu jǐge jiějie mèimei How many sisters do you have? (Answer is likely to be less than 10)
• 多少 + (measure word)
  1. 图书馆有多少本中文画报？ túshūguǎn yǒu duōshaoběn Zhōngwén huàbào How many pictorials does the library have? (Answer is likely to be more than 10)
  2. 你们学院有多少个系？ nǐmen xuéyuàn yǒu duōshaoge xì How many departments does your institute have? (Answer likely more than 10)

多少 without a measure word

多少 can be used with or without a measure word. There is however a slight difference in connotation depending on whether the measure word is used or not. Generally the measure word is omitted when a huge figure is anticipated as the response:

1. 中文系有多少(个)学生？ Zhōngwén xì yǒu duōshao(ge) xuésheng How many students does the Chinese department have?
2. 中国有多少人？ Zhōngguó yǒu duōshao rén How many people does China have? (We omit the 个 as the result is surely huge.)