Chinese word

多少

Pronunciation

Pinyinduō shǎo

Meaning

  • pronounhow many

Example

你每天学习多少小时？nǐ měi tiān xué xí duō shǎo xiǎo shí

How many hours do you study every day?

Illustration for 多少 (how many)

More examples

你班上有多少人？nǐ bān shàng yǒu duō shǎo rén

How many people are in your class?

Core concept

Marks an amount or degree as an open range between more and less.

Common phrases

  • 多少钱duō shǎo qián

    how much money

  • 多少小时duō shǎo xiǎo shí

    how many hours

  • 多少人duō shǎo rén

    how many people

Similar words

几jǐ: Asks how many, usually before a noun, for a small number of countable things.
几个jǐ gè: Asks how many individual things there are, with a counting word marking each one.

Definition in Chinese

用作疑问词时询问不确定的多少，用作副词时表示某种程度的多少或稍微的意味，常见于日常口语。yòng zuò yí wèn cí shí xún wèn bú què dìng de duō shǎo yòng zuò fù cí shí biǎo shì móu zhǒng chéng dù de duō shǎo huò shāo wēi de yì wèi cháng jiàn yú rì cháng kóu yǔ

Word origin

The word 多少 (duōshǎo, "how much or how many") joins 多 (duō, "many") with 少 (shǎo, "few"), turning the contrast between the two into a question or an imprecise degree.

Usage tips

  • Chinese uses the same question word for countable things and substances, while English usually separates "how many" from "how much".

Other meanings

  • how muchpronoun
  • a littleadverb

Word lists with this word