Learn how to ask "How much is..." questions
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| INTRODUCTION |
| This lesson covers a phrase for all of you shoppers out there, as we’ll look at the phrase "how much?" |
| Depending on your shopping habit, this phrase might just be the most useful phrase we cover. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| In French, "how much" is combien. |
| Combien |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: combien |
| Now let's hear it once again: combien |
| Depending on your spending habits, you may be an extremely high frequentcy phrase! The most rudimentary way of using "how much" is pointing at something while saying combien? But let's try and build this up a bit, shall we? |
| Let's start with the expression "How much is this?" which in French is combien ça coûte? |
| The first word, combien, means "how much" as we have seen. |
| This is followed by ça, which we covered in lesson 3, which in English means "this” or “that." |
| Ça |
| ça |
| This is followed by coûte, which in English means "cost." |
| Coûte |
| Coûte |
| So all together, we have combien ça coûte? This literally translates as "how much does that cost?" |
| Another more common and easier way to say this phrase is c'est combien? |
| This literally means "it's how much?" |
| The first word, c'est, as we have learned in an earlier lesson, means "it's." |
| C'est |
| c'est |
| All together, we have c'est combien? |
| If you have a choice between these three phrases, “c'est combien” Is probably the most common and useful. |
| Good for us, as it is quite easy to say, but it may not be so good for our wallets. |
Outro |
|---|
| Okay, to close out this lesson, we'd like you to practice what you've just learned. I'll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you're responsible for shouting it aloud. You have a few seconds before I give you the answer, so bonne chance, that means “good luck” in French. Ok, here we go! |
| “How much?” - Combien? |
| Combien? |
| Combien? |
| “How much is it?” - Combien ça coûte? |
| Combien ça coûte? |
| Combien ça coûte? |
| “How much is it?” (easier) - C'est combien? |
| C'est combien? |
| C'est combien? |
| This is the end of today’s lesson. See you soon! À bientôt! |
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