多少

Chinese

		many; much	few; little
trad. (多少)		多	少
simp. #(多少)		多	少

Pronunciation 1

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): duōshao, duōshǎo

  (Zhuyin): ㄉㄨㄛ ˙ㄕㄠ, ㄉㄨㄛ ㄕㄠˇ

  (Dungan, Cyrillic and Wiktionary): дуәшо (duəšo, I-II)

• Cantonese (Jyutping): do¹ siu²
• Jin (Wiktionary): de¹ sau²
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): to-siáu / to͘-siáu

  (Teochew, Peng'im): do¹ zio²

• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ¹tu-sau

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Mainland China)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: duōshao
    • Zhuyin: ㄉㄨㄛ ˙ㄕㄠ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: duoshåo
    • Wade–Giles: to¹-shao⁵
    • Yale: dwō-shau
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: duo.shau
    • Palladius: дошао (došao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tu̯ɔ⁵⁵ ʂɑʊ̯²/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, Taiwan)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: duōshǎo
    • Zhuyin: ㄉㄨㄛ ㄕㄠˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: duoshǎo
    • Wade–Giles: to¹-shao³
    • Yale: dwō-shǎu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: duoshao
    • Palladius: дошао (došao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tu̯ɔ⁵⁵ ʂɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
  • (Dungan)
    • Cyrillic and Wiktionary: дуәшо (duəšo, I-II)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tuə²⁴ ʂɔ⁵¹/

    (Note: Dungan pronunciation is currently experimental and may be inaccurate.)

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: do¹ siu²
    • Yale: dō síu
    • Cantonese Pinyin: do¹ siu²
    • Guangdong Romanization: do¹ xiu²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tɔː⁵⁵ siːu̯³⁵/
• Jin
  • (Taiyuan)⁺
    • Wiktionary: de¹ sau²
    • Sinological IPA (old-style): /tɤ¹¹ sau⁵³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: to-siáu
    • Tâi-lô: to-siáu
    • Phofsit Daibuun: doisiao
    • Sinological IPA (Kaohsiung): /tɤ⁴⁴⁻³³ siau⁴¹/
    • Sinological IPA (Taipei): /to⁴⁴⁻³³ siau⁵³/
    • Sinological IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /to⁴⁴⁻²² siau⁵³/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: to͘-siáu
    • Tâi-lô: too-siáu
    • Phofsit Daibuun: dosiao
    • Sinological IPA (Quanzhou): /tɔ³³ siau⁵⁵⁴/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: do¹ zio²
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: to tsió
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /to³³⁻²³ t͡sio⁵²/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ¹tu-sau
    • MiniDict: tu^平 sau
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹tu-sau
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /tu⁵⁵ sɔ²¹/

Adjective

多少

1. (interrogative) how many; how much

   你要多少？  ―  Nǐ yào duōshǎo?  ―  How much do you want?

   這個班有多少男生？ [MSC, trad.]
   这个班有多少男生？ [MSC, simp.]

   Zhè ge bān yǒu duōshǎo nánshēng? [Pinyin]

   How many boys are in this class?

   你背唐詩背了多少首？ [MSC, trad.]
   你背唐诗背了多少首？ [MSC, simp.]

   Nǐ bèi Tángshī bèi le duōshǎo shǒu? [Pinyin]

   How many Tang poems have you memorized?

   多少鈔票？ [Shanghainese, trad.]
   多少钞票？ [Shanghainese, simp.]

   ¹tu-sau ⁵tshau-phiau [Wugniu]

   How much does it cost?

   • 夜來風雨聲，花落知多少？ [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     夜来风雨声，花落知多少？ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Meng Haoran, 《春曉》, translated by Xu Yuanchong

     Yè lái fēngyǔ shēng, huā luò zhī duōshǎo? [Pinyin]

     After one night of wind and showers, how many are the fallen flowers!

2. (when duplicated in a sentence) as much as; as many as

   你要多少就拿多少。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]

   Nǐ yào duōshǎo jiù ná duōshǎo. [Pinyin]

   Take as many as you want.

   你需要多少複印件就複印多少吧。 [MSC, trad.]
   你需要多少复印件就复印多少吧。 [MSC, simp.]

   Nǐ xūyào duōshǎo fùyìnjiàn jiù fùyìn duōshǎo ba. [Pinyin]

   Make as many photocopies as you need.

Usage notes

Sometimes 多少 (duōshao) is used in ways that the English terms how many and how much are not; for example, in Mandarin it is common to ask:

你的電話號碼是多少？ [MSC, trad.]
你的电话号码是多少？ [MSC, simp.]

Nǐ de diànhuà hàomǎ shì duōshǎo? [Pinyin]

What is your phone number?

(literally, “How many/much is your phone number?”)

你的電子郵件是多少？ [MSC, trad.]
你的电子邮件是多少？ [MSC, simp.]

Nǐ de diànzǐ yóujiàn shì duōshǎo? [Pinyin]

What is your email address?

(literally, “How many/much is your email address?”)

你的微信號是多少？ [MSC, trad.]
你的微信号是多少？ [MSC, simp.]

Nǐ de Wēixìn hào shì duōshǎo? [Pinyin]

What is your WeChat account?

(literally, “How many/much is your Wechat account?”)

This usage of how many may have become prevalent on account of the fact that phone numbers - as well as many email addresses in China - are made up completely of digits. Note that this habitual usage has extended to WeChat IDs, which are not usually not made up of digits.

Synonyms

• (how many; how much):

Dialectal synonyms of 多少 (“how many; how much”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		幾, 幾何, 幾多, 幾許, 多少
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		多少
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	多少
	Taiwan	多少
	Singapore	多少
Jilu Mandarin	Jinan	多少
Central Plains Mandarin	Xi'an	多少
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	好多
	Wuhan	幾多, 好多
	Guilin	好多
	Xiangtan (Jiangnan Industries Group koine)	幾, 幾多
Jianghuai Mandarin	Yangzhou	多少
	Hefei	好些, 好多
Cantonese	Guangzhou	幾多, 幾
	Hong Kong	幾多, 幾
	Taishan	幾多
	Dongguan	幾多
	Yangjiang	幾多, 幾
	Singapore (Guangfu)	幾多, 幾
Gan	Nanchang	幾多
Hakka	Meixian	幾多
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	幾多
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	幾多
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	幾多
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	幾多
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	幾多
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	幾多
Jin	Taiyuan	多少
Northern Min	Jian'ou	幾多
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	若夥
	Singapore (Fuqing)	若夥
Southern Min	Xiamen	偌濟
	Quanzhou	偌濟
	Shishi	偌濟
	Zhangzhou	偌濟
	Zhao'an	偌濟
	Tainan	偌濟, 幾
	Penang (Hokkien)	幾
	Singapore (Hokkien)	偌濟, 幾
	Manila (Hokkien)	偌濟, 幾
	Chaozhou	若濟
	Shantou	若濟
	Jieyang	若濟
	Puning	若濟
	Pontianak (Teochew)	若濟
	Haikou	偌濟
Puxian Min	Putian	若何
	Putian (Jiangkou, Hanjiang)	若何
	Putian (Nanri, Xiuyu)	若何
	Xianyou	若何
	Xianyou (Fengting)	若何
	Xianyou (Youyang)	若何
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	幾多
Wu	Shanghai	多少, 幾化, 幾多化 dated
	Shanghai (Qingpu)	幾好
	Shanghai (Jiading)	幾漢
	Shanghai (Chongming)	多話
	Suzhou	幾化
	Wuxi	幾化
	Ningbo	多少
	Wenzhou	幾倈兒, 幾倈
	Lishui	幾粒
	Qingyuan	多
Xiang	Changsha	好多
	Xiangtan	幾, 幾多
	Shuangfeng	好多, 幾多

See also

• 幾個／几个 (jǐgè)
• 幾／几 (jǐ)

Pronunciation 2

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): duōshǎo

  (Zhuyin): ㄉㄨㄛ ㄕㄠˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): do¹ siu²
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): tô-séu
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): to-siáu / to͘-siáu

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: duōshǎo
    • Zhuyin: ㄉㄨㄛ ㄕㄠˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: duoshǎo
    • Wade–Giles: to¹-shao³
    • Yale: dwō-shǎu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: duoshao
    • Palladius: дошао (došao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tu̯ɔ⁵⁵ ʂɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: do¹ siu²
    • Yale: dō síu
    • Cantonese Pinyin: do¹ siu²
    • Guangdong Romanization: do¹ xiu²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tɔː⁵⁵ siːu̯³⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: tô-séu
    • Hakka Romanization System: do^ˊ seu^ˋ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: do¹ seu³
    • Sinological IPA: /to²⁴ seu̯³¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: to-siáu
    • Tâi-lô: to-siáu
    • Phofsit Daibuun: doisiao
    • Sinological IPA (Kaohsiung): /tɤ⁴⁴⁻³³ siau⁴¹/
    • Sinological IPA (Taipei): /to⁴⁴⁻³³ siau⁵³/
    • Sinological IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /to⁴⁴⁻²² siau⁵³/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: to͘-siáu
    • Tâi-lô: too-siáu
    • Phofsit Daibuun: dosiao
    • Sinological IPA (Quanzhou): /tɔ³³ siau⁵⁵⁴/

Noun

多少

1. amount; how much; how many

   所得稅的多少取決於你的收入。 [MSC, trad.]
   所得税的多少取决于你的收入。 [MSC, simp.]

   Suǒdéshuì de duōshǎo qǔjué yú nǐ de shōurù. [Pinyin]

   How much income tax you pay depends on your income.

Adverb

多少

1. somewhat; more or less

   這種描述多少有點準確性。 [MSC, trad.]
   这种描述多少有点准确性。 [MSC, simp.]

   Zhè zhǒng miáoshù duōshǎo yǒu diǎn zhǔnquèxìng. [Pinyin]

   The description is more or less accurate.

Synonyms

edit

• 一些 (yīxiē)
• 一仔 (Hokkien)
• 小可 (Hokkien)
• 小可仔 (Hokkien)
• 微微仔 (Hokkien)
• 拉圇 / 拉囵 (Hokkien)
• 普二略 (Hokkien)
• 普其略 (Hokkien)
• 普普仔 (Hokkien)
• 有些 (yǒuxiē)
• 略事 (lüèshì) (literary)
• 略仔 (Hokkien)
• 略微 (lüèwēi)
• 略為 / 略为 (lüèwéi)
• 略略 (lüèlüè)
• 略略仔 (Hokkien)
• 稍
• 稍微 (shāowēi)
• 稍為 / 稍为 (shāowéi)
• 稍稍仔 (Hokkien)
• 粗粗 (Hakka)
• 粗粗仔 (Hakka)
• 約略 / 约略 (yuēlüè)
• 聊 (liáo) (literary, or in compounds)
• 頗略仔 / 颇略仔 (Hokkien)
• 麻微 (Hokkien)
• 麻文 (Hokkien)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (多少):

• → Japanese: 多少(たしょう) (tashō)
• → Korean: 다소(多少) (daso)

Derived terms

• 古今多少事，都付笑談中 / 古今多少事，都付笑谈中 (gǔjīn duōshǎo shì, dōu fù xiàotán zhōng)
• 多多少少 (duōduōshǎoshǎo)
• 多少是好
• 抵多少
• 沒多少 / 没多少
• 渾身是鐵，打得多少釘兒 / 浑身是铁，打得多少钉儿

Japanese

Kanji in this term
多	少
た Grade: 2	しょう Grade: 2
on'yomi

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ta̠ɕo̞ː]
• (Tokyo) たしょー [tàshóó] (Heiban – [0])

Adverb

多(た)少(しょう) • (tashō) 

1. little, somewhat, rather, quite

Noun

多(た)少(しょう) • (tashō) 

1. amount, number

References

• “多少”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026