<p>十几个人 = 10 &lt;= x &lt;= 19</p>
<p>几十个人 = x &gt; 20</p>
<p>So the latter has more people.</p>
<p>Generally, the 几 in the word means that this number can be chosen arbitrarily from all numbers greater then 2, so 几百个人 is 200-999 people.</p>
<p>If you just want to express that there are a lot of people, then you usually put 几 in front to show there is more.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-25T14:48:51.700Z
Feel like 几 usually indicates >= 2...
Archeosudoerus
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2021-08-25T14:49:49.803Z
Yep, sorry my bad. (Actually I am a native Chinese, how on earth did I make that mistake??)
Lily White
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-25T14:47:42.173Z
2021-08-25T14:50:08.110Z
2021-08-25T14:50:08.110Z
Lily White
<p>My answer might not be how teachers would explain this typically, but here it is..<br></p>
<p>When you ask someone 這東西有幾個(几个)?, you can think of 幾(几) as a character that represents the uncertainty of counts.<br></p>
<p>So for &quot;這東西有幾個&quot;, you can view it as &quot;這東西有?個&quot;<br></p>
<p>Same rule applies to your question:<br>
幾十個 -&gt; ?十個 -&gt; <b>?0</b>, so it implies you have at least &gt;19<br>
十幾個 -&gt; 十?個 -&gt; <b>1?</b>, so it implies you have 11~19<br></p>
<p>幾百個 -&gt;  <b>?00</b>,  implies you have at least &gt;100<br>
幾千個 -&gt; <b>?000</b>, implies you have at least &gt;1000<br></p>
<p>Same rule also applies when you want to answer:<br>
五十幾個 -&gt; <b>5?</b> -&gt; 51~59<br>
^ This however only makes sense if the count is under a hundred.<br>
If more than a hundred, then we typically use 多:<br>
五十多個 = <b>50+</b><br>
兩百多個 = <b>200</b>+<br>
兩百幾個 would not make sense</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-25T17:44:57.450Z
2021-08-25T17:44:57.450Z
wk14
<p>十 means 10, 几 means a few( less than 10 usually ). So 十几 means 10 + a few which indicates the number is 10+ but &lt; 20. 几十 is a few of 10s so it is a multiple of 10, usually &lt; 100 and definitely &gt; 20.</p>

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2021-09-01T08:21:41.983Z
几十 >= 20 not > 20
xenophōn
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-09-01T14:43:41.857Z
@xenophōn but people will just say 20 when it is exactly 20 :)
Archeosudoerus
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-09-08T06:00:05.783Z
Native Chinese goes for the idea that 几 is usually larger than 2, it is the same as *several*, you use it when you not sure or don't want to bother with the actual number, but one can always put a finger on it when the number is precisely 2.
Li Wang
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-25T14:42:12.773Z
2021-08-25T14:42:12.773Z
Archeosudoerus
<p>I read somewhere that in order to express &quot;over a number of things/people&quot; we can use this pattern:
(multiples of ten)+几+classifier+noun
like
十几个人:more than ten people (less than 20)
However, somewhere else I came across this pattern
几+十+classifier+noun
The sequence of 十 and 几 are exactly reversed in these two patterns.
I wonder if these two patterns have the same meaning or not?</p>

<grammar>
Difference between 十几个人 and 几十个人
# Difference between 十几个人 and 几十个人

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-08-25)

I read somewhere that in order to express "over a number of things/people" we can use this pattern:
(multiples of ten)+几+classifier+noun
like
十几个人:more than ten people (less than 20)
However, somewhere else I came across this pattern
几+十+classifier+noun
The sequence of 十 and 几 are exactly reversed in these two patterns.
I wonder if these two patterns have the same meaning or not?

**Tags:** grammar


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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2021-08-25. Score: 10 | Accepted answer

十 means 10, 几 means a few( less than 10 usually ). So 十几 means 10 + a few which indicates the number is 10+ but < 20. 几十 is a few of 10s so it is a multiple of 10, usually < 100 and definitely > 20.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: 几十 >= 20 not > 20  
> **username_2**: @username_4 but people will just say 20 when it is exactly 20 :)  
> **username_5**: Native Chinese goes for the idea that 几 is usually larger than 2, it is the same as *several*, you use it when you not sure or don't want to bother with the actual number, but one can always put a finger on it when the number is precisely 2.  

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### Answer by username_1 on 2021-08-25. Score: 8

十几个人 = 10 <= x <= 19

几十个人 = x > 20

So the latter has more people.

Generally, the 几 in the word means that this number can be chosen arbitrarily from all numbers greater then 2, so 几百个人 is 200-999 people.

If you just want to express that there are a lot of people, then you usually put 几 in front to show there is more.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Feel like 几 usually indicates >= 2...  
> **username_1**: Yep, sorry my bad. (Actually I am a native Chinese, how on earth did I make that mistake??)  

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### Answer by username_3 on 2021-08-25. Score: 2

My answer might not be how teachers would explain this typically, but here it is..

When you ask someone 這東西有幾個(几个)?, you can think of 幾(几) as a character that represents the uncertainty of counts.

So for "這東西有幾個", you can view it as "這東西有?個"

Same rule applies to your question:  
幾十個 -> ?十個 -> **?0**, so it implies you have at least >19  
十幾個 -> 十?個 -> **1?**, so it implies you have 11~19

幾百個 -> **?00**, implies you have at least >100  
幾千個 -> **?000**, implies you have at least >1000

Same rule also applies when you want to answer:  
五十幾個 -> **5?** -> 51~59  
^ This however only makes sense if the count is under a hundred.  
If more than a hundred, then we typically use 多:  
五十多個 = **50+**  
兩百多個 = **200**+  
兩百幾個 would not make sense


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