wie viel kostet das?
The English phrase "how much does this cost?" is translated into German as wie viel kostet das?
You use wie viel kostet das? to ask for the price of an item.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is built literally from wie viel (how much), kostet (costs) and das (that/this).
Which one should you use?
While wie viel kostet das? asks for the cost, you can also say Wie teuer ist das?, which translates to "How expensive is that?" using the adjective teuer (expensive) and the verb sein (to be).
Did you know?
- While wie viel kostet das? is standard, if you are in a shop in Germany, you might hear someone ask Was macht das? which literally translates to 'What does that make?'
- The word viel in wie viel shares a common ancestor with the English word 'full', both stemming from the Proto-Indo-European root for 'to fill'.
- In a traditional German market, it is often considered more polite to greet the vendor before asking wie viel kostet das?
Examples in context
- Was musst du für diese Schuhe hinblättern?What do you have to shell out for these shoes?
- Wie viel kostet das, bitte?How much does that cost, please?
- Entschuldigung, wie viel kostet das?Excuse me, how much does this cost?
Example conversation
Felix and Hannah are shopping at a market.
- FelixHallo Hannah, schau mal hier. Wie viel kostet das?Hello Hannah, look here. How much does this cost?
- HannahIch weiß es nicht, Felix. Frag den Verkäufer.I don't know, Felix. Ask the seller.
- FelixGuten Tag, wie viel kostet das?Good day, how much does this cost?
- HannahDas kostet nur fünf Euro.That only costs five euros.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries das, kostet, viel, wie, CC BY-SA 4.0.
