Using Jǐ for Asking How Much

We learned using jǐ to ask time-related questions such as jǐyuè jǐhào, xīngqī jǐ and jǐdiǎn, and now we are going to learn couple more jǐ question words.

Using “jǐ + measure word” for asking “how many noun/how much noun” - jǐge

Before jumping into jǐ + measure word, let’s talk about what measure word is first.

When you are talking about the quantity of something in Chinese, you need a measure word. Measure words are used basically all the time because every object needs to be quantified. Whenever you see this: “[number/几] + [a weird word you haven’t learned] + [object]”, then 90 percent of the time, that weird word is a measure word. But don’t worry, we are going to only learn the most common and “generic” measure word in Chinese: ge. ge is mostly used with noun for people, but we will also use 个 for other things for now in the exercises and/or homework.

Subject + verb + jǐ + measure word + object

A: Nǐ jiā yǒu jǐge rén？——> Your family has how many ge people? (How many people are there in your family?) 你家有几个人？ B: Wǒ jiā yǒu liǎngge rén？——> My family has two ge people. (There are two people in my family.) 我家有两个人。

Note that B said liǎng ge, instead of èr ge. Only “two” will be different when pairing with measure word. For example, liǎngge píngguǒ.

A: Tā chī jǐge píngguǒ？ ——> He eat how many ge apple? (How many apple does he eat? ) 他吃几个苹果？ B: Tā chī shíge píngguǒ. ——> He eat ten ge apple. (He eats ten apple.) 他吃十个苹果。