Grammaire of Lesson 4

How to use 多 and 几 with "how many"

In Chinese, there are two main ways to ask "how many," depending on the context and the estimated quantity of the answer.

1. 多 duō before an adjective verb

The adjective verb 大 dà can be translated as "to be big" in terms of volume and age.
中国很大。 China is big.
大人 Adults.

Note: "to be old" is expressed as 老 lǎo.

In Chinese, the word for "to be many," 多 duō, can also mean "how many?" when placed before an adjective verb:
中国人很多。 The Chinese are many.
你多大？ How old are you? (literally: "You are how old?")

This use of 多 allows for questions that are hard to translate literally into French but exist in Chinese:
她多美？ How beautiful is she?
他多好？ How good is he?

The answer to the question "How old are you?" 你多大？ is constructed without a verb:

Example: "I am 17 years old": 我十七岁。 Wǒ shíqī suì.

岁 suì is only used for years of age.

2. 几 jǐ

When speaking to a child, you can also ask 你几岁？ Nǐ jǐ suì ?
In reality, the interrogative word "how many?" 几 jǐ is used when the estimated answer is less than 10 (approximately). For answers greater than ten, another interrogative word made with 多 duō is used. We will cover this in more detail in another lesson.

Constructing numbers up to 99

You have learned the numbers from 0 to 10 in the vocabulary. It’s fairly easy, except for the way to write zero: 零 líng, though it can also be written as 〇, which is simpler but less traditional. In HSK level tests, zero is always written as 零, so you must know this form.

Chinese people also (and often) use Arabic numerals. However, it’s important to know Chinese numerals, which are also commonly used.

After 10, the sequence is quite logical:
11 十一
12 十二
13 十三
...
19 十九
Then: 20 二十
21 二十一
22 二十二
etc.

It’s very easy, with no particular rules except that you must not add a "one" from 10 to 19: 一十, 一十一, etc.

The alternative interrogative question

We have seen the full question, which is formed by adding 吗 ma at the end of a sentence, and the incomplete question, which uses an interrogative word (谁？ shéi ?, 什么？ shénme ?).

There is another structure for the full question, which involves doubling the verb by alternating it with negation:

For example, the question with 吗 ma:
他是老师吗？ Is he a teacher?
can also be constructed as:
他是不是老师？ Is he a teacher?

This structure is called the alternative interrogative question.

What is the difference between the question with 吗 ma and the alternative interrogative question?

There are two differences: one minor and one more significant:
• The minor difference is that the alternative interrogative form is more commonly used in speech, while the question with 吗 ma is more common in writing.
• The more significant difference is that you cannot use adverbs (很，也) with the alternative interrogative form.

Thus, the following sentence is correct:
她也姓李吗？ Tā yě xìng Lǐ ma ? Does she also have the surname Li?
but the following sentence is incorrect:
她也姓不姓李？ Tā yě xìng bú xìng Lǐ ?

Final note: In an alternative interrogative question, if a verb is two syllables (like 高兴 gāoxìng "to be happy" or 客气 kèqi "to be polite"), only the first syllable of the first verb is generally used (though it’s not mandatory):
她高不高兴？ Tā gāo bù gāoxìng ? Is she happy?
but you can also say:
她高兴不高兴？ Tā gāoxìng bù gāoxìng ? Is she happy?

Examples from the dialogue:
你是不是中学老师？ Nǐ shì bú shì zhōngxué lǎoshī ? Are you a middle/high school teacher?

Adjective before the noun

In Chinese, the adjective (or determiner) is always placed before the noun it modifies. This follows the same logic as the particle 的 (determiner + 的 + determined), though the latter implies a comparison or distinction from a group.

Examples from the dialogue:
中学老师 zhōngxué lǎoshī: middle/high school teacher (literally, "middle school teacher")
大学老师 dàxué lǎoshī: university teacher

With 的:
中学的老师 zhōngxué de lǎoshī: middle school teacher (when distinguishing from other levels).

Here, the structure is the opposite of French: the determiner (中学 or 大学) comes before the determined noun (老师).