Combien (en. How much)

[kɔ̃bjen]

Meaning & Definition

EnglishFrench

adverb

Used to inquire or demand information about quantity or number.

How many apples did you buy?

Combien de pommes as-tu achetées ?

Used to ask for a price.

How much does this book cost?

Combien coûte ce livre ?

Can be used to question an amount or duration.

How long do you need to finish the project?

Combien de temps te faut-il pour finir le projet ?

From the Latin 'quomodo', the origin of question formulation

how much does it cost?

Asking for the price of an item or service.

combien ça coûte ?

to know how much

Inquiring to obtain a precise quantity.

savoir combien

how long?

Asking about the time needed to do something.

combien de temps ?

combine

To put together, to unite.

combiner

counting

The action of counting.

comptage

quantity

Amount or number of something.

quantité

What's the price?

When you want to know how much it costs, you can say: 'What's the price?'.

Quand tu veux savoir combien ça coûte, tu peux dire : 'C'est quoi le prix ?'.

How much is it really?

To emphasize the real price, one can say: 'How much is it really?'.

Pour insister sur le vrai prix, on peut dire : 'C'est combien en vrai ?'.