<p>It depends on your tone and context.</p>

<p>If the statement itself does not have any prior or future statements, then it would likely be a question.
Here are the possible context：</p>

<p>从上海到东京坐飞机要几个小时 ？ In this case, you are asking a question， your tone would also be in an inquiring manner, to make it clear its a question</p>

<p>从上海到东京坐飞机要几个小时, 你总不能要我每天来回吧？ In this case its a statement (It takes a couple hours from Shanghai to Tokyo, you can't expect me to travel between them everyday ?）</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-22T03:29:28.397Z
2019-11-22T03:29:28.397Z
emkay
<p>Need to tell from the tone. If it sounds like there's a question mark at the end, then it's how many. If it sounds like telling you the truth, then it is a few. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-23T01:40:04.827Z
Since the tones themselves are same in both, I assume you mean the over all feeling of the sentence? Since I'm a beginner, could you describe what the difference might be? Or if you want to record yourself saying these two versions and post a link, that would be great
pixelearth
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-23T03:40:32.740Z
Think this way, when you speak english, when you say "isn't it?" you use different tones to express different meanings. For this case, when you meant to say "a few", an easier way to tell is people normally emphasize on "几个“ which means “好几个".. Also, you can tell from the context. Sometimes you should be able to guess whether they ask you a question or tell you a fact.
sylvia
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-23T10:08:50.960Z
@pixelearth My feeling is that when asking the question the stress is on 几, and when stating the truth the stress is on 个.
Toosky Hierot
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-23T00:59:21.177Z
2019-09-23T00:59:21.177Z
sylvia
<p>This is one of a few phenomena in Chinese that the meaning of a sentence depends not only on the letters but also the punctuation. You don't know the exact meaning of the sentence without a 。 or a ？ after it.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-21T12:47:39.503Z
2019-11-21T12:47:39.503Z
帕菲菲
<p>I'm confused about hao to know if 几 is asking a question (how many) or making a statement (a few). If I heard the following sentence (not read), is there a way to hear the difference?</p>

<pre><code>从上海到东京坐飞机要几个小时
</code></pre>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-23T06:29:03.787Z
Depending on context
炸鱼薯条德里克
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-02T05:17:06.607Z
As a native speaker, I've never thought of this seriously. Interesting.
Daniel Cheung
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-23T05:24:30.947Z
The next time someone asks 你家有几口人？, I'm tempted to reply 对，我家有几口人。 [Tested it---it doesn't work.]
Becky 李蓓
<meaning>
Is it ever ambiguous if 几 means "how many?" or "a few"?
# Is it ever ambiguous if 几 means "how many?" or "a few"?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-09-22)

I'm confused about hao to know if 几 is asking a question (how many) or making a statement (a few). If I heard the following sentence (not read), is there a way to hear the difference?

```
从上海到东京坐飞机要几个小时

```

**Tags:** meaning

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Depending on context  
> **username_2**: As a native speaker, I've never thought of this seriously. Interesting.  
> **username_3**: The next time someone asks 你家有几口人？, I'm tempted to reply 对，我家有几口人。 [Tested it---it doesn't work.]  

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2019-11-22. Score: 1

It depends on your tone and context.

If the statement itself does not have any prior or future statements, then it would likely be a question.
Here are the possible context：

从上海到东京坐飞机要几个小时 ？ In this case, you are asking a question， your tone would also be in an inquiring manner, to make it clear its a question

从上海到东京坐飞机要几个小时, 你总不能要我每天来回吧？ In this case its a statement (It takes a couple hours from Shanghai to Tokyo, you can't expect me to travel between them everyday ?）


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### Answer by username_5 on 2019-09-23. Score: 0

Need to tell from the tone. If it sounds like there's a question mark at the end, then it's how many. If it sounds like telling you the truth, then it is a few.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Since the tones themselves are same in both, I assume you mean the over all feeling of the sentence? Since I'm a beginner, could you describe what the difference might be? Or if you want to record yourself saying these two versions and post a link, that would be great  
> **username_5**: Think this way, when you speak english, when you say "isn't it?" you use different tones to express different meanings. For this case, when you meant to say "a few", an easier way to tell is people normally emphasize on "几个“ which means “好几个".. Also, you can tell from the context. Sometimes you should be able to guess whether they ask you a question or tell you a fact.  
> **username_6**: @username_0 My feeling is that when asking the question the stress is on 几, and when stating the truth the stress is on 个.  

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### Answer by username_7 on 2019-11-21. Score: 0

This is one of a few phenomena in Chinese that the meaning of a sentence depends not only on the letters but also the punctuation. You don't know the exact meaning of the sentence without a 。 or a ？ after it.


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