More than one?

[XiaoZhou]

How would I say 'more than one' in Chinese? Is there a way to generically (broadly) specificy that an unknown plural number of something exists?

Would one have to say 几个 or 多? Would it just be 比一多? That feels really awkward to me, especially since I am looking for a way to use it with an noun, such as "I have more than one job" or "he has more than one girlfriend" or "our country is fighting more than one war."

[Iriya]

几个

[歐博思]

他有不止一份工作， etc

edit: I was on the right track, but Semantic Nuance took it and made it native.

[muirm]

I sometimes say "多于一个" to refer to the general notion of "more than one" (i.e. not necessarily just a few, but perhaps tens or hundreds, etc). I know what you mean where you feel like you should stick a 比 somewhere but it just doesn't seem to fit. I've always assumed "多于...” sounds a little strange/not very colloquial, though, so 几个 or 不止一个 are probably better suggestions.

[semantic nuance]

"I have more than one job"----我的工作不止一份

"he has more than one girlfriend" --他(的)女朋友不止一個

"our country is fighting more than one war." ---我國不止打一場仗(而已)

[knickherboots]

You could also use the construction "...一个（份）以上的[object]". But, like so much in Chinese, it depends on context.

If you say, "他一直有一份以上的工作” it would be clear from the context that the person had been working at least two jobs.

However, if you said, "如果你花100元以上。。。“ it would be understood to mean "If you spend at least RMB 100..."

Because the phrases 以上 and 以下when used with terms that include quantity or location can be understood to include the object being used as a reference point or only a quantity or range that starts from the next unit above or below that reference point, legal documents will often include the term 包含 after figures if there is concern about misunderstanding.

[skylee]

If you say, "他一直有一份以上的工作” it would be clear from the context that the person had been working at least two jobs.

However, if you said, "如果你花100元以上。。。“ it would be understood to mean "If you spend at least RMB 100..."

What is the difference between the usage in the two sentences? Why the "however"?

I don't think 100元以上 = RMB100 OR more (that would be 100元或以上）. I think it means at least RMB100.1

[knickherboots]

@skylee. Based on a discussion with two native-speaking Chinese colleagues here in Beijing (both intelligent college graduates), one thinks that 100元以上would include 100元, while the other thinks it would not.

The one who believes that it would not include RMB100 said that including some more specific language along the lines of 满100元, or 100元以上（含）would clarify that the amount 100元 would be included. But she also said that there would certainly be native-speaking Chinese, such as my other colleague, who would consider a bare 100元以上 would include the amount 100元.

In short, it would be useful to bear in mind the ambiguity of 以上 and 以下 in certain contexts.

[imron]

When used in Chinese law, 以上 and 以下 include the number they are talking about. Many laws have a note that references this, see for example 中华人民共和国刑法第九十九条:

第九十九条　本法所称以上、以下、以内，包括本数。

Other laws have similar statements.

This is however a very precise legal definition, because the law needs to be clear on matters like this (say for example the law says the minimum sentence for a crime is 两年以上), and doesn't necessarily reflect common usage.

[skylee]

Thanks for the replies. For the RMB100 example, I would support "including some more specific language along the lines of 满100元, or 100元以上（含）would clarify that the amount 100元 would be included". In Hong Kong it would be more common to use 滿100元 and 100元或以上.