Hey, today we’ll see how to ask about quantity and how to say how much of something there is or how many elements there are. We´ll be using the French counterparts of words like much, many, a lot of, few and little.
Count / Noncount Nouns
First let´s revise what count and noncount nouns are. Well, count nouns are those which we can count in items. These nouns can be used in plural as well as in singular. For example clock is a count noun because we can have one clock or seven clocks. Here are some more examples:
| Count Nouns | |
| une horloge | a clock |
| une lampe | a lamp |
| un jour | a day |
| une femme | a woman |
| un chien | a dog |
Noncount nouns are typically used only in singular. They are names of substances or abstract notions. These nouns are not typically counted in items. There may be little air or a lot of air but we would rather not say that there are twenty-four airs in the room. Have a look:
| Noncount Nouns | |
| temps | time |
| eau | water |
| patience | patience |
| sucre | sugar |
| encre | ink |
Combien – Asking about Quantity
How do we ask about quantity? We ask how much if we refer to noncount nouns in English. In case of count nouns we say how many. In French there is no difference. We always use the word combien + de. As you can see in some of the following examples, de is reduced to d’ before vowels. Here are some noncount nouns:
| le sucre | Combien de sucre? | How much sugar? |
| le temps | Combien de temps? | How much time? |
| l’argent | Combien d’argent? | How much money? |
| le lait | Combien de lait? | How much milk? |
And here are some count nouns:
| les boîtes | Combien de boîtes? | How many boxes? |
| les étudiants | Combien d’étudiants? | How many students? |
| les femmes | Combien de femmes? | How many women? |
| les jours | Combien de jours? | How many days? |
Beaucoup – Large Quantities
In English we usually use a lot of or a similar expression in statements and much / many in questions and negative sentences. In French there is no difference whether we are stating something, asking or negating. There is no difference, either, whether it’s a count noun or not. We use the same form: beaucoup + de. So, let’s start with some noncount nouns:
| beaucoup de sucre | a lot of / much sugar |
| beaucoup d’argent | a lot of / much money |
| beaucoup de thé | a lot of / much tea |
| beaucoup d’eau | a lot of / much water |
And here are some count nouns:
| beaucoup de boîtes | a lot of / many boxes |
| beaucoup d’enfants | a lot of / many children |
| beaucoup de fenêtres | a lot of / many windows |
| beaucoup de portes | a lot of / many doors |
Peu – Small Quantities
The opposite of beaucoup is peu. It means little / few or not much / not many. Peu + de is used with both count and noncount nouns. Speaking of which… Here are some examples of the latter:
| peu de sucre | little / not much sugar |
| peu de fromage | little / not much cheese |
| peu de viande | little / not much meat |
| peu d’eau | little / not much water |
And here are some count nouns:
| peu de boîtes | few / not many boxes |
| peu d’arbres | few / not many trees |
| peu de mots | few / not many words |
| peu d’oiseaux | few / not many birds |
Examples – Talking about Quantity
Let´s have a look at these examples:
| Je mange beaucoup de fromage. I eat a lot of cheese. |
| Nous chantons beaucoup de chansons américaines. We sing a lot of American songs. |
| Marie mange peu de sel. Marie eats little salt. |
| Peu de fenêtres sont vertes. Few / Not many windows are green. |
If you want to learn how to talk about quantity in Spanish, I have an article here.