多少 in Context

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多少

Usage 1 - "how many?": 

*Sentence：

这里有多少个小朋友？

English:

How many children are here?

Top-Down Words:

这里 zhèli - here

Usage 2 - "a bunch, several (indeterminate amount, usually above 10)"

Sentence：

这里环境很好，多少人想来呢！

English:

The environment is really great here, loads of people are wanting to come!

Top-Down Words:

这里 zhèli - here
环境 huánjìng - environment; surroundings
呢 ne - a certain tone of voice

*Sentence：

除了早上吃的那些以外，每天桌子上的饭有多少她就吃多少。

English:

She will eat whatever is on the table except in the mornings.

Top-Down Words:

除了 chúle - besides, apart from
就 jiù - (expressing condition “then”)
饭 fàn - meal

Need a Reminder?

The Six Steps to Learning Words

Understanding Chinese Words - Morphemes

3 Questions About Words

Member Comments from 2019-mid-2020

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William Beeman

Hi again. I am trying to do these sentences without looking at the translations. In this sentence, however, 除了早上吃的那些以外，每天桌子上的饭有多少她就吃多少, there are a numbe of words that you didn't translate directly. Like 每天, for example. And the construction 多少她就吃多少 really eludes me with the double 多少. Can you parse this? In setting up models for sentence patterns it helps to see the direct function of the sentence elements rather than a "gloss." Thanks!

Mandarin Blueprint

This sentence is a bit confusing without the wider context of the story/opinion it's in.
The double 多少 is a way of saying "however much is there, she eats that much"

MB Team

Here's the link to where Phil and Luke talked about this comment in the Mandarin Blueprint Podcast:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX6uT92Sy4U&t=3106s

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Sidney Green

这里环境很好，多少人想来呢！Does this really mean 'loads of people' are wanting to come? Would you not then say 很多人. Would not 'quite a few people' be more appropriate?

Mandarin Blueprint

Depends on the context. This sentence is grammatically correct for sure, but the person's relationship with the environment likely matters here. For example, someone could be arriving for the first time, or perhaps want to convince the person they are talking to that it's a pleasant environment. This actually illustrates why phases 4 and 5 of the course are so important because a single sentence fails to give enough context to know what's most appropriate. For now, just know that this sentence is not grammatically wrong and there are contexts where it could be said.

MB Team

Here's the link to where Luke and Phil talked about this question in the Mandarin Blueprint Podcast: https://youtu.be/7jCSVayhIqI?list=PL_T_LpTzhQ1ihGzQaTSeYEvr8_jmImnO-&t=1735