Saturday, December 14, 2013

grammar - How to ask questions with "how many" in them?



I would like some guidance on how to ask questions with "how many" in them. For example, does one say




From how many minutes is the train late?




or simply





How many minutes is the train late?




or something else?



Similarly, is it




From how many kilos does she slim ?





or something else?


Answer




How many minutes will the train be late?




would be ok. From is incorrect in this question.





From how many kilos does she slim




I'm not sure slim can be measured like this. Your best bet will be How slim is she?



Generally, you'll be just putting how in front of the question and changing word order accordingly to make your sentence a question.




She has many friends.




How many friends does she have?




If there's a preposition somewhere in the statement and it is connected with many or the noun, you'll want to move it toward the end.




I've heard this rumor from many people





How many people have you heard this rumor from?



Notice how from is separated from many people and put in the end of question. Strictly speaking, From how many people have you heard this rumor? is also ok grammatically, but in my opinion it is a little more awkward.


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