Measure words in quantity questions

By "quantity questions," we mean asking "how much?" or "how many?" You're going to need to use the question word 几 (jǐ) and measure words for this.

Structure

You can use the quantity question word 几 instead of a number to ask about quantity with measure words.

Subject + Verb + 几 + MW + Noun?

Examples

  • 个 人?How many people?
  • 你 在 这里 呆 天?How many days are you staying here?
  • 你 每 天 工作 个 小时?How many hours do you work every day?
  • 你 家 里 有 个 人?How many family members does your family have?
  • 你 有 个 女朋友?How many girlfriends do you have?
  • 你 学 了 年 中文?How many years have you studied Chinese?
  • 你 认识 个 中国 人?How many Chinese people do you know?
  • 你 买 了 个 苹果?How many apples did you buy?
  • 从 这里 到 那里,需要 个 小时?From here to there, it should take how many hours?
  • 你 喝 了 瓶 啤酒?How many bottles of beer did you drink?
  • 你 需要 张 纸?How many pieces of paper do you need?? (Note: In English we say "piece" of paper, in Chinese we say a zhang[a flat spread thing] of paper.)

See also

Sources and further reading

Books