malieboe Posted May 28, 2006 at 03:20 PM Report Posted May 28, 2006 at 03:20 PM Hi, I am new here, and this might be a stupid question, but what exactly is the difference between yi3 and dou1shao? Accordng to NPCR both mean how many, how much... Thanks Quote
xiaojiang216 Posted May 28, 2006 at 04:45 PM Report Posted May 28, 2006 at 04:45 PM Are you referring to 几 (ji3) and 多少 (duo1 shao3)? yi3 and ji3 are two different words, as well as duo1 and dou1. Anyway... Although they have similar meanings, they are used differently. For example: 1. 你几岁? ni3 ji3 sui4 How old are you? (Lit: You how many years?) 2. 几点钟了? ji3 dian3 zhong1 le? What time is it? 3. 这本书是多少钱? zhe4 ben3 shu1 shi4 duo1 shao3 qian2? How much does this book cost? 4. 这所大学有多少学生? zhe4 suo3 da4 xue2 you3 duo1 shao3 xue2 sheng1? How many students are there in this university? Sometimes you can use both 多少 and 几 to express something. However, you may or may not need to add a measure word. For example, with sentence #4, you need to add a measure word if you want to use 几: 这所大学有几个学生? zhe4 suo3 da4 xue2 you3 ji3 ge xue2 sheng1? How many students are there in this university? Do these sentences work? I'm not sure how to really explain it, but hopefully others will give their input. EDIT: I am probably wrong... I was looking further into the subject, and found a sentence that said: "你们班有多少个学生?" ni3 men2 ban1 you3 duo1 shao3 ge xue2 sheng1? How many students are there in your class? Quote
anonymoose Posted May 28, 2006 at 05:30 PM Report Posted May 28, 2006 at 05:30 PM 几 is used for small numbers. Most text books say about 10 or less. So, I suspect 这所大学有几个学生? is strange, because you wouldn't expect a university to have less than 10 students. Quote
malieboe Posted May 28, 2006 at 05:51 PM Author Report Posted May 28, 2006 at 05:51 PM Okay, I just discovered that NPCR indeed says that 几 is used to ask about numbers less than 10. Guess, I had to study just a bit further. Thanks anyway, guys! Quote
xiaojiang216 Posted May 28, 2006 at 07:02 PM Report Posted May 28, 2006 at 07:02 PM Anonymoose, now that I think about that... You're right! Sorry, Malieboe! There's your answer! Thanks, Anonymoose! Quote
gougou Posted May 28, 2006 at 08:09 PM Report Posted May 28, 2006 at 08:09 PM Some textbooks say that ji3 can be used for numbers up to 12, taking into account that it is also used for months and time. The measure word can be omitted for duo1shao, but must be used for ji3 Quote
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