wie viel kostet das?
The English phrase "how much is this?" is translated into German as wie viel kostet das?
The phrase wie viel kostet das? is a standard way to ask for the price of an item. For an even more polite approach, you can say Entschuldigen Sie, was kostet das?, which means "Excuse me, what does it cost?"
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase wie viel kostet das? literally translates to "how much costs that?"
Which one should you use?
While wie viel kostet das? asks specifically "how much", the very common alternative Was kostet das? asks "what does that cost?"
Did you know?
- In Germany, it is common to round up the price when paying cash, often saying Stimmt so to tell the vendor to keep the change.
- In some regions of Germany, you might hear the price asked as Was macht das?, which literally means 'What does that make?'
- The word viel shares a common ancestor with the English word 'full', stemming from the Proto-Indo-European root meaning 'to fill'.
Examples in context
- Entschuldigen Sie, was kostet dieser Teppich?Excuse me, what does this carpet cost?
Example conversation
Julia and Maximilian are shopping at a market.
- JuliaSchau mal, das Kleid! Wie viel kostet das?Look at that dress! How much is this?
- MaximilianIch glaube, es kostet zwanzig Euro.I think it costs twenty euros.
- JuliaDas ist ein sehr guter Preis.That is a very good price.
- MaximilianJa, das ist wirklich günstig.Yes, that is really cheap.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries das, kostet, viel, wie, CC BY-SA 4.0.
