Combien de: ask how many or how much in French

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated 6 October 2026 · About the library

Ask for quantities with combien de and combien d’. Practise shopping, time and prices through short exchanges, picture cards and a four-question check.

A2
11 phrases
3 situations
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In short

Put combien de before a noun to ask “how many” or “how much”: combien de pommes, combien de temps. Before a vowel or mute h, use d’: combien d’eau, combien d’heures. To ask a price, say Ça coûte combien ?

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Choose the thing you want to measure

French question	What you ask for	Possible answer
Combien de pommes veux-tu ?	a count	Quatre pommes.
Combien d’eau faut-il ?	an amount	Un litre d’eau.
Combien de temps avons-nous ?	a duration	Vingt minutes.
Ça coûte combien ?	a price	Trois euros.

Things you can count or measure

For countable things, keep the noun plural: pommes, œufs, personnes. For an amount, use the mass noun: eau, pain. After combien, use de rather than the ordinary indefinite des: combien de pommes. Combien de ces pommes asks “how many of these apples”, from a set you can point to.

At the fruit stall

Ask for a count, then answer with a number.

The other personCombien de pommes voulez-vous ?How many apples would you like?

YouJ’en voudrais quatre, s’il vous plaît.I’d like four, please.En stands for the apples; quatre keeps the quantity.

The other personEt combien de poires ?And how many pears?

YouDeux poires, merci.Two pears, thank you.

Preparing a meal

YouCombien d’œufs faut-il pour cette recette ?How many eggs do we need for this recipe?

The other personIl faut trois œufs.We need three eggs.

YouEt combien de temps faut-il prévoir ?And how much time should we allow?

The other personEnviron vingt minutes.About twenty minutes.

Checking the price

YouCette baguette coûte combien ?How much does this baguette cost?

The other personUn euro vingt.One euro twenty.

YouJe vais en prendre deux.I’ll take two.

When can you say combien without de?

Vous voulez des pommes ? Combien en voulez-vous ?

Would you like some apples? How many would you like?

En avoids repeating the quantity object. Combien keeps the question about the number.

You can also build the full question with est-ce que: Combien de pommes est-ce que vous voulez ? The inverted form is Combien de pommes voulez-vous ? Both ask for the same number. In Combien de personnes viennent ?, the people are the subject, so the verb is plural.

At the fruit stall

Preparing a meal

Checking the price

When can you say combien without de?

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