11.6 The Question Word 幾多 gei2 do1 (‘how many, how much’) I (Countable Nouns)

The question word 幾多 gei2 do1 is similar to how many or how much in English. We use 幾多 gei2 do1 to form a question that elicits a quantity as the answer.

We put the noun whose quantity we want to ask about after 幾多 gei2 do1. If the noun is countable (e.g., 人 jan4 ‘person’), we often add a classifier between 幾多 gei2 do1 and the noun, especially when we want to know the exact quantity. The classifier is determined based on the noun.

When 幾多 gei2 do1 is followed by a classifier, 幾多 gei2 do1 can be contracted to 幾 gei2.

When we are not sure where we should put 幾多gei2 do1, we can always think of the answer to the question. We put 幾多 gei2 do1 at the position where the number appears in the answer.