Measure words in quantity questions

Quantity questions are phrases for asking things like "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 (jǐ) instead of a number to ask about quantity with measure words.

Subj. + Verb + 几 + Measure word + Noun?

Examples

  • 个 人 ? gè rén? How many people?
  • 你 在 这里 呆 天 ? Nǐ zài zhèlǐ dāi tiān? How many days are you staying here?
  • 你 每 天 工作 个 小时 ? Nǐ měi tiān gōngzuò gè xiǎoshí? How many hours do you work every day?
  • 你 家 里 有 个 人 ? Nǐ jiā lǐ yǒu gè rén? How many family members does your family have?
  • 你 有 个 女朋友 ? Nǐ yǒu gè nǚpéngyou? How many girlfriends do you have?
  • 你 学 了 年 中文 ? Nǐ xué le nián Zhōngwén? How many years have you studied Chinese?
  • 你 认识 个 中国 人 ? Nǐ rènshi gè Zhōngguó rén? How many Chinese people do you know?
  • 你 买 了 个 苹果 ? Nǐ mǎi le gè píngguǒ? How many apples did you buy?
  • 从 这里 到 那里 , 需要 个 小时 ? Cóng zhèlǐ dào nàli, xūyào gè xiǎoshí? From here to there, it should take how many hours?
  • 你 喝 了 瓶 啤酒 ? Nǐ hē le píng píjiǔ? How many bottles of beer did you drink?
  • 你 需要 张 纸 ? Nǐ xūyào zhāng zhǐ? How many pieces of paper do you need? (Note: In English we say "piece" of paper, in Chinese we say a [flat spread thing] of paper.)

See also

Sources and further reading

Books