Asking about Prices in English: “How Much“
In English, the phrase “how much” is used when we want to ask about the price of something. Here is a simple grammar explanation to help you understand this concept better.
1. “How much” for singular and uncountable nouns(books, cars, …)
In English, “how much” is generally used to ask about singular or uncountable items. This is usually for things we cannot count, like milk, water, rice, money, or time.
For example:
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How much is this book?
The book is £2.
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How much water do we have left?
There is one glass of water.
2. “How much” + is/are
When asking about prices, we use “how much” with “is” for one item and “are” for more than one item.
For example:
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How much is this book? (Singular – one book)
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How much are these shirts? (Plural – 2,3 or more books)
3. “How much” in questions
We use “how much” at the beginning of questions when we want to know the cost or price of something.
For example:
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How much is that car?
The car is £20,000.
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How much are these shoes?
The shoes are $25.
4. “How much” with verbs do or does
We can also use “how much” with verbs like “cost” or “charge”.
For example:
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How much does this camera cost?
The camera is £500.
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How much do they charge for a haircut?
The haircut is $40.
Remember!
Practice makes perfect. Try using “how much” when you go shopping or when you talk about prices. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. With practice, asking about prices in English will become easy!
How many
We use how many with countable nouns. Countable nouns are any nouns that can be counted. Countable nouns include books, cars, houses, bikes and apples.
For example,
How many jackets do you have? I have two jackets.
How many laptops do you have? I have one laptop.
