"how much, how many" in seven languages
Meaninghow much, how many
Spanish
cuánto
/ˈkwanto/
inherited
French
combien
/kɔ̃bjɛ̃/
other source · Old French com 'how' + bien 'well, much'
Italian
quanto
/ˈkwanto/
inherited
Portuguese
quanto
/ˈkwɐ̃tu/
inherited
Romanian
cât
/kɨt/
inherited
Catalan
quant
/kwan/
inherited
English
how much
/haʊ ˈmʌtʃ/
Indo-European kin · PIE *kʷo- (question stem)
English → Italianhow much, how manyquantoDistant cognateRelated only through Indo-European, thousands of years back (night ~ noche). But English has relatives: quantity, quantum.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
QUANTUM‘how much’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Spanish and Italian keep QUANTUM (and agree it with nouns: cuántas, quante); French asks 'how well?', combien, and never changes.
English relatives: quantity, quantum
Learn it
In a sentence
- es¿Cuánto cuesta?
- frÇa coûte combien ?
- itQuanto costa?
- ptQuanto custa?
- roCât costă?
- caQuant val?
- enHow much is it?