Chinese

Adjective

多少

1. (interrogative) how many; how much

   你要多少？  ―  Nǐ yào duōshǎo?  ―  How much do you want?

   這個班有多少男生？ [MSC, trad.]

   这个班有多少男生？ [MSC, simp.]

   Zhè ge bān yǒu duōshǎo nánshēng? [Pinyin]

   How many boys are in this class?

2. (when duplicated in a sentence) as much as; as many as

   你要多少就拿多少。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]

   Nǐ yào duōshǎo jiù ná duōshǎo. [Pinyin]

   Take as many as you want.

   你需要多少複印件就複印多少吧。 [MSC, trad.]

   你需要多少复印件就复印多少吧。 [MSC, simp.]

   Nǐ xūyào duōshǎo fúyìnjiàn jiù fúyìn duōshǎo ba. [Pinyin]

   Make as many photocopies as you need.

Usage notes

Sometimes 多少 is used in ways that the English terms how many and how much are not; for example, in Mandarin it is common to ask:

你的電話號碼是多少？ [MSC, trad.]

你的电话号码是多少？ [MSC, simp.]

Nǐ de diànhuà hàomǎ shì duōshǎo? [Pinyin]

What is your phone number? (lit. "How many/much is your phone number?")

你的電子郵件是多少？ [MSC, trad.]

你的电子邮件是多少？ [MSC, simp.]

Nǐ de diànzǐ yóujiàn shì duōshǎo? [Pinyin]

What is your email address? (lit. "How many/much is your email address?")

This usage of how many may have become prevalent on account of the fact that phone numbers - as well as many email addresses in China - are made up completely of digits.

Synonyms

See also

• 幾／几 (jǐ)

Pronunciation

Noun

多少

1. amount; how much; how many

   所得稅的多少取決於你的收入。 [MSC, trad.]

   所得税的多少取决于你的收入。 [MSC, simp.]

   Suǒdéshuì de duōshǎo qǔjué yú nǐ de shōurù. [Pinyin]

   How much income tax you pay depends on your income.

Adverb

多少

1. somewhat; more or less

   這種描述多少有點準確性。 [MSC, trad.]

   这种描述多少有点准确性。 [MSC, simp.]

   Zhè zhǒng miáoshù duōshǎo yǒu diǎn zhǔnquèxìng. [Pinyin]

   The description is more or less accurate.

Japanese

Adverb

多少 ‎(hiragana たしょう, romaji tashō)

1. little, somewhat, rather, quite

Noun

多少 ‎(hiragana たしょう, romaji tashō)

1. amount, number