# 多少 duōshao and 多 duō



## piano0011

I have been noticing that in my book, they have used duo1nian2 to mean how many years instead of duoshao nian? and sometimes they would use duoshao like... ni xihuan mai duoshao? When would i know when to use duoshao and duo? Also, is duo and duoshao already a question word and you do not need to add ma?


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## ovaltine888

It would be better if you could give the whole sentence.


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## piano0011

ovaltine888 said:


> It would be better if you could give the whole sentence.


for example... when counting anything or asking for phone numbers... they use duoshao...

ni de dianhua hao me shi duoshao?
wendu shi duoshao?

but in terms of years.... they would use duo as in duonian? can you say duoshao nian?


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## SuperXW

No. I think you've misunderstood your book again...
In terms of years, it should still be "duoshao nian", to mean "how many years".
"duonian" means "for many years".


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## piano0011

SuperXW said:


> No. I think you've misunderstood your book again...
> In terms of years, it should still be "duoshao nian", to mean "how many years".
> "duonian" means "for many years".


so i guess by using duo as in duonian... it means around and i guess i must say something like...

shi duo nian = around 10 years ... but duoshao nian needs to have a definite number..


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## SuperXW

piano0011 said:


> so i guess by using duo as in duonian... it means around and i guess i must say something like...
> 
> shi duo nian = around 10 years ... but duoshao nian needs to have a definite number..


No...I think you are confused by the multiple meanings and structures of Chinese.

shi duo nian = "more than 10 years"
It's (shi duo) nian, not shi (duo nian).
Correct understanding of structure: [large number + more] + unit
Not: ten + (many + years) 

duo meanings:
1. many
2. more

duoshao meanings:
1. how many (in question)
2. so many (in exclamatory sentence)
3. more or less (as an adverb)


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## piano0011

SuperXW said:


> No...I think you are confused by the multiple meanings and structures of Chinese.
> 
> shi duo nian = "more than 10 years"
> It's (shi duo) nian, not shi (duo nian).
> Correct understanding of structure: [large number + more] + unit
> Not: ten + (many + years)
> 
> duo meanings:
> 1. many
> 2. more
> 
> duoshao meanings:
> 1. how many (in question)
> 2. so many (in exclamatory sentence)
> 3. more or less (as an adverb)


ah..... so anything with number + lai/duo means more than + number..

san lai  or san duo = more than 3 

san lai nian or san duo nian = more than 3 years...

I will try to remember this structure.... thanks!


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## SuperXW

piano0011 said:


> ah..... so anything with number + lai/duo means more than + number..
> 
> san lai  or san duo = more than 3
> 
> san lai nian or san duo nian = more than 3 years...
> 
> I will try to remember this structure.... thanks!


No...I wrote "large number", not any digit.
30 + x = sanshi duo
300 + x = sanbai duo
But
3 + x   "san duo" no such saying

More than *3 years* = *san nian* duo
Because *it is more than "3 years", not "more than 3" years*.


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## piano0011

SuperXW said:


> No...I wrote "large number", not any digit.
> 30 + x = sanshi duo
> 300 + x = sanbai duo
> But
> 3 + x   "san duo" no such saying
> 
> More than *3 years* = *san nian* duo
> Because *it is more than "3 years", not "more than 3" years*.


sounds confusing then I guess I have to use ji for smaller numbers


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## piano0011

I am just wondering why my book is using the following statement:

ba gongjin duo? Does this mean 8 kilograms or more and is this correct structure? From my understanding, i should use duo for more than 10 and anything less, use ji?

So to say, 8 kilos or less, it should be:

ba gongjin ji?


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## SuperXW

piano0011 said:


> sounds confusing then I guess I have to use ji for smaller numbers
> 
> 
> piano0011 said:
> 
> 
> 
> I am just wondering why my book is using the following statement:
> 
> ba gongjin duo? Does this mean 8 kilograms or more and is this correct structure? From my understanding, i should use duo for more than 10 and anything less, use ji?
> 
> So to say, 8 kilos or less, it should be:
> 
> ba gongjin ji?
Click to expand...

8 gongjin < 8 gongjin duo = 8.x gongjin < 9 gongjin
30 < 30 duo < 40
shi (10) nian < shi duo nian < er shi (20) nian


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## piano0011

SuperXW said:


> 8 gongjin < 8 gongjin duo = 8.x gongjin < 9 gongjin
> 30 < 30 duo < 40
> shi (10) nian < shi duo nian < er shi (20) nian


thanks.... and I guess when using ji3, it usually goes before the number and duo after it?


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## SuperXW

piano0011 said:


> thanks.... and I guess when using ji3, it usually goes before the number and duo after it?


Many character in Chinese can have multiple meanings and usages in different words and structures. We cannot conclude such an absolute rule for ji3 and duo1.
I can think of examples that ji3 goes after the number and duo before it. They are not what you are learning now. 
Also, when we talk about numbers in Chinese, we cannot avoid unit (classifier/measure word), which you missed to mention.
So I suggest you to learn basic characters, words, phrases one by one. Don't try to over-generalize them.


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