Formwie viel + Singular oder unzählbares Nomen; wie viele + Plural
Meaning and usage
Use wie viel to ask about an amount you cannot count, such as money, time or a mass, and it stays the same before a singular noun. Use wie viele to ask about a number of separate things, and it comes before a plural noun. The question word stands first and the verb comes second, as in Wie viele Tage warst du im Krankenhaus?.
The common mistake is using wie viel with a plural noun. If the noun is plural, choose wie viele.
Examples 4
Wie viele Tage warst du im Krankenhaus?
How many days were you in the hospital?
Wie viele Stunden habt ihr am Montag?
How many classes do you have on Monday?
Wie viel von dem Zeug gehört dir?
How much of this stuff is yours?
Wie viel, denkst du, wird das kosten?
How much money do you think that'll cost?
Test yourself
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1 Sprachbausteine
Geld hast du dabei?
Show answer
Correct answer: Wie viel
Geld is an uncountable noun, so the question word is wie viel. Wie viele needs a plural noun, and welche and was für ask about a choice or a kind, not an amount.
- Welche asks which one of a known set, not how much of something.
- Wie viele would need a plural noun after it, but Geld has no plural here.
- Was für asks what kind of thing, not how much.
In this topic: Questions
- Kommst du …? Yes/no question: verb first
- Was, wer, wie, wann, warum …? W-questions: question word first, verb second
- wo, wohin, woher where: position, destination, origin
- welcher, welche, welches Which: welch- takes the endings of der, die, das
- wie viel, wie viele how much, how many
- …, oder? statement + oder? = isn't it? right?
- Was für ein …? what kind of
Example sentences from Tatoeba, used under CC BY 2.0 FR. See sources.