34.3 The Question Word 幾多錢 gei2 do1 cin2 / 幾錢 gei2 cin2 (‘how much’ for money)

The question word 幾多錢 gei2 do1 cin2 is similar to how much in English (as in how much does one person pay?). We can use it to form a question that elicits an amount of money as the answer. It is formed by combining 幾多 gei2 do1 (‘how much’) and 錢 cin2 (‘money’). We can optionally contract 幾多錢 gei2 do1 cin2 to 幾錢 gei2 cin2.

To ask for the price of an item, we simply put 幾多錢 gei2 do1 cin2 / 幾錢 gei2 cin2 after the item to form a question. Note that we don’t need to add a verb between the item and 幾多錢 gei2 do1 cin2 / 幾錢 gei2 cin2. It is a sentence structure that has a predicate without a verb (see Grammar and Vocabulary 12.4).