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Quantities, part 3 of 4
How Much and How Many: Asking About Quantities
How many goes with countable nouns (How many kids do you have?), how much with uncountable ones (How much milk do you need?) and prices.
The idea
What how much and how many are
How many asks about things you can count; how much asks about things you cannot, and also about the price.
- Countable things. How many pets do you have?
- Uncountable things. How much soup is left?
- The price. How much is the bus?
When to use it
To ask about amounts, prices, and time, and to understand the answer. These expressions go with it:
In a store
- How much is it?
- How much are these?
- How much do I owe you?
Time and money
- How much time do we have?
- How much does it cost?
- How much money do you need?
To count
- How many kids do you have?
- How many nights?
- How many days?
- How many of you?
Examples
- The price
How much is this shirt?
- People
How many brothers do you have?
- Something you cannot count
How much sugar do you take?
- Time
How much time do you need?
- How often
How many times a week do you run?
How to build it
3 steps
- Can you count it?Plural: how many. Uncountable: how much.How many eggs / How much milk
- Put the thing right afterWith nothing in between:How many eggs
- Finish like a questionWith do, does, is, or are:How many eggs do you need?
With countable nouns
- How manyHow many
- pluralcousins
- do / doesdo
- subject + verb ?you have?
With uncountable nouns
- How muchHow much
- uncountablerice
- do / doesdo
- subject + verb ?we need?
The price
- How muchHow much
- is / areare
- the thing ?the tickets?
The rule
Many or much
| Question | With | Example |
|---|---|---|
| How many | plural | How many plates do we need? |
| How much | uncountable | How much paint do we need? |
| How much | the price | How much is the paint? |
How to answer
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| How many aunts do you have? | Two. / Just one. / None. |
| How much water do you drink? | A lot. / Not much. / Two glasses. |
| How much is it? | Ten dollars. / It is $10. |
How to pronounce it
how much
/haʊ mʌtʃ/The u in much sounds like the u in cup: /mʌtʃ/.
how many
/haʊ ˈmɛni/The a in many sounds like /ɛ/: /ˈmɛni/.
Check
How (blank) money do you have? Which word goes in the blank?
Don't confuse it with Is there...?
Is there a gym?
Does it exist?
How many gyms are there?
How many?
Is there...? asks if there is something; How many...? asks how many there are.
Is there and are thereIn real life
If you count an uncountable noun with a unit, it changes: How much coffee? but How many cups of coffee?
Frequently asked questions
Is how much only for money?
No: it is for everything you cannot count (How much water?, How much time?) and also for prices.
Can you leave out the noun?
Yes, if it is clear what you mean: How many do you want? How much is that one?
How many people or how much people?
How many: people can be counted, even with no -s.
In short
- Countable: How many bags?
- Uncountable: How much flour?
- The price: How much are they?
- Then the question: How many bags do you have?