LEARN KOREAN (한국어) [GRAMMAR] #1

HOW MANY (몇)___ WORDS WITH COUNTERS

Before I explain how to ask somebody "how many ____?" as in "how many cars do you have?" let's review how to say "I have # cars." Remember that you need to use counters in these types of sentences:

저는 차 두 대가 있어요 - I have 2 cars
나는 어제 친구 다섯 명을 만났어 - I met five friends yesterday
저는 그 영화를 다섯 번 봤어요 - I saw that movie five times

If you want to ask "how many ___?" you must include "몇" before the counter:

차가 몇 대 있어요? - How many cars do you have?
친구를 몇 명 만났어요? - How many friends did you meet?
어제 학교에 몇 번 갔어요? - How many times did you go to school yesterday?

Notice the difference in the placement of the particles. When you say "몇 번" or "몇 대" or "몇 명" you have essentially created a question word. Just like most other question words, particles are not typically attached. Nonetheless, if you placed the particles after "몇 ___", your questions would still be understood, but to me it is more natural to place them after the noun that you are asking about, and not after the counter. Just to show you, these would be understandable, and it probably just depends on the speaker who says them:

차 몇 대가 있어요? - How many cars do you have?
친구 몇 명을 만났어요? - How many friends did you meet?

Also make sure not to confuse these types of sentences with these similar sentences you learned in a previous lesson:
(저는) 차 몇 대가 있어요 - I have some cars
(저는) 어제 학교에 몇 번 갔어요 - I went to school some times (a few times) yesterday
(저는) 친구를 몇 명 만났어요 - I met some friends

The difference between the first three sentences and the last three sentences is the first three are questions and the last three are statements. Remember when you are asking a question that the intonation needs to rise at the end of the sentence.

By using 몇 ___ you can also ask "how old are you?" and "what time is it?":

몇 시예요? - What time is it?
몇 살이에요? - How old are you?
너의 남동생은 몇 살이야? - How old is your younger brother?