combien
/kɔ̃.bjɛ̃/
To ask how many in French, use combien.
combien asks about a number. It can stand alone, as in Vous êtes combien ? or come before a noun with de, as in Combien de doigts ?
Meaning: what number (pron)
Which one should you use?
For formal questions, quel est le nombre de means what is the number of. quelle est la quantité de asks about a quantity in a formal context.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
When combien is used before a noun, it must be followed by de, which becomes d with an apostrophe before a vowel. When it stands alone without a noun, it does not take de.
How do you pronounce it?
combien is pronounced /kɔ̃.bjɛ̃/, in two syllables, with two nasal vowels.
What mistakes should you avoid?
Unlike English, French does not separate how many from how much. combien covers both, so do not look for a second word.
Did you know?
- The word combien is a literal contraction of the words 'comme' and 'bien', which originally meant 'as well' or 'as much'.
- In casual spoken French, combien is often placed at the end of the sentence, such as in Vous êtes combien ?, rather than at the start.
- In very old French, the term combien was sometimes used to mean 'how great' or 'how intense' in an emotional sense, not just for counting numbers.
Examples in context
- Vous êtes combien ?How many are you?Vous êtes combien ? asks how many people are in a group.Tatoeba #1966332 by nimfeo, translation #2348146 by Adelpa
- Combien de doigts ?How many fingers am I holding up?Combien de doigts ? puts de before the noun being counted.Tatoeba #3938544 by sacredceltic, translation #3731455 by CM
- Combien sont morts ?How many died?Combien sont morts ? uses combien on its own as the subject.Tatoeba #1130010 by sacredceltic, translation #1108662 by megamanenm
- Combien de personnes sont là?How many people are there?
- Combien de livres avez-vous lus?How many books have you read?
- Combien de temps cela prendra-t-il?How much time will it take?
- Combien de frères et sœurs as-tu?How many siblings do you have?
- Combien de bières veux-tu acheter?How many beers do you want to buy?
- Combien de films avez-vous vus?How many movies have you seen?
- 922 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
At a bakery, Emma is asking Hugo about the order.
- HugoCombien de croissants veux-tu ?How many croissants do you want?
- EmmaJe veux en prendre trois.I want to take three.
- HugoEt pour moi, combien en faut-il ?And for me, how many are needed?
- EmmaDeux suffisent pour toi, Hugo.Two are enough for you, Hugo.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “how many” translations and entries combien, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries combien, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
