tu as combien de frères et sœurs
In French, "how many siblings you have" is expressed as tu as combien de frères et sœurs.
This phrase is used to ask a person about the number of brothers and sisters they have. Since French lacks a single common word for "siblings," you must use the phrase frères et sœurs to convey the concept.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase frères et sœurs literally means "brothers and sisters."
Which one should you use?
The form tu as combien de frères et sœurs is a common way to ask the question in spoken, informal French by placing the question word at the end. For more formal or written French, the question is often formed by inverting the subject and verb: Combien de frères et sœurs as-tu ?
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
The default form tu as combien de frères et sœurs is informal. Use vous avez combien de frères et sœurs instead of tu as when asking this question to a stranger, a superior or a group of people.
How does it change in a sentence?
The expression combien de must always be followed by a noun to mean "how many."
Did you know?
Example conversation
Emma and Hugo are getting to know each other.
- EmmaTu as combien de frères et sœurs, Hugo ?How many siblings do you have, Hugo?
- HugoJ'ai un frère et une sœur.I have one brother and one sister.
- EmmaC'est super, ils sont plus jeunes que toi ?That's great, are they younger than you?
- HugoOui, ils sont beaucoup plus petits.Yes, they are much smaller.
