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plStructure
Basic form
Interrogative pronoun duō 多 ‘how’ is placed before an adjective.
Question
Interrogative pronoun duō 多 ‘how’ with an adjective is normally placed at the point where the required information would be provided in the answer.
It can also be preceded by the verb yǒu 有 ‘to be such’.
When asking about the distance between two places, the preposition lí 离/離 is often used.
Functions
1. Duō 多 asking about degree or extent
Duō 多 ‘how’ is used to ask about the degree or extent of someone or something, such as for size, weight, or length. It is used with qualitative adjectives which identify qualities that someone or something has.
When asking about measure or degree, duō 多 ‘how’ is used with positive adjectives that suggest large extents, for example: gāo 高 ‘tall, high’, dà 大 ‘big’, kuài 快 ‘fast’, yuǎn 远/遠 ‘far’, zhòng 重 ‘heavy’. It is rather not used with the adjectives that denote small degrees, such as: ǎi 矮 ‘short, low’, xiǎo 小 ‘small’, màn 慢 ‘slow’, jìn 近 ‘near’, qīng 轻/輕 ‘light’. Exceptions are these pairs of adjectives: lěng 冷 ‘cold’, rè 热/熱 ‘hot’, and pàng 胖 ‘fat’, shòu 瘦 ‘thin’.
In answers to such questions duō 多 ‘how’ and adjectives are replaced with a numeral phrase.
2. Duō 多 asking about age
When interrogative pronoun duō 多 ‘how’ is followed by the adjective dà 大 ‘big’, it can also be used to ask about people’s age, meaning “how old?”. The answer to such questions are composed by numerals and the noun suì 岁/歲 which means “years of age”
For adults, especially older than the speaker, it is often more appropriate to ask more politely with the phrases duō dà niánjì 多大年纪 / 多大年紀 or duō dà suìshu 多大岁数 / 多大歲數. For asking about the age of children under 10 years old, the phrase jǐ suì 几岁/幾歲 is preferred.
Also see Interrogative pronouns jǐ 几/幾 and duōshao 多少 ‘how many’ for more information.
3. Duō 多 asking about duration
To ask about the duration of time, the phrases duōjiǔ 多久or duō cháng shíjiān 多长时间 / 多長時間 can be used, meaning “how long?”. Duōjiǔ 多久 and duō cháng shíjiān 多长时间 / 多長時間 are usually interchangeable.