how many

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English

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Etymology

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From Old English hū maniġ.

Pronunciation

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  • Audio (UK):(file)

Determiner

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how many

  1. (This entry is a translation hub.)
    How many times have I told you not to slam the door?
    How many keys we have lost!
    I told him how many days the principal said he skipped school.

Usage notes

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Translations

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Pronoun

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how many

  1. unspecified number
    We've lost quite a few; I don't know exactly how many.
    • 1800, George Fox, A Journal Or Historical Account of the Life, Travels, Sufferings, Christian Exsperiences, and Labour of Love, in the work of the Ministry:
      And I saw how many were destroying the simplicity, and betraying the truth.
    • 2004, John P. Sutton, Thin White Lines, page 233:
      Biff then stated, “Take how many you want, they're $700 a piece."
    • 2012, Charlie Gardner, Rotten Timbers, →ISBN, page 143:
      I'll phone later and confirm how many I want.
    • 2016, L. James Dempsey, Blackfoot War Art: Pictographs of the Reservation Period, 1880–2000:
      The sticks are now going around, and take how many you want.
  2. what number
    How many of you have full-time jobs?
    How many have we lost to disease?
    • 2000, Glen C. Cutlip, How to Overcome Death: The Final Victory, →ISBN, page 61:
      The message itself is neither difficult nor simple, but how many will realize this?
    • 2005, David B. Spangler, Math for Real Kids, →ISBN:
      You know how many are in one group and how many are in another group.
    • 2010, Michael A. Curtis, Notes from My Journey, →ISBN, page 39:
      How many will say I want to be a good example for my children?
    • 2011, Ian Angus, Simon Butler, Too Many People?, →ISBN:
      How many people Earth can support depends in part on how many will wear cotton and how many polyester; on how many will eat meat and how many bean sprouts; on how many will want parks and how many will want parking lots.

Derived terms

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Translations

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References

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  • how many”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.