24.12 The Question Expression 幾多號 gei2 do1 hou6 / 幾號 gei2 hou6 (‘what number’)

In Grammar and Vocabulary 23.8, we learned that the question expression 幾多號 gei2 do1 hou6 means ‘what day’.

The question expression 幾多號 gei2 do1 hou6 can also mean ‘what number’. We use it to form a question that elicits a number (e.g., a phone number) as the answer. We form the expression by combining 幾多 gei2 do1 (‘how many’) and 號 hou6 (‘number’). We can put 幾多號 gei2 do1 hou6 before the type of number we want to ask for.

There are other ways to use 幾多號 gei2 do1 hou6 to ask for a number, but we won’t examine them here.

Since 號 hou6 is a classifier, we can contract 幾多 gei2 do1 to 幾 gei2 and say 幾號 gei2 hou6.