How many children does...?

Question

How would you say: How many children does Carlos has.

I thought it would be "¿Cuántos hijos tiene Carlos?"

...but he has 2 daughters and one son, so would it be hijas?

It may be a typo but the question should read '...does Carlos have.' - margaretbl, Apr 19, 2010

Answer 1

Well I was always under the impression that the male took preference. So surely even though he only has one son but two daughters, the question would be.

¿Cuántos hijos tiene Carlos?

that was what I thought too - nizhoni1, Apr 19, 2010

Yes, I have learned it from 3 sources already, including my teacher. The male gender is used, even if it is a minority of one, when referring to a mixed-gender group. - Rikko, Apr 19, 2010

Answer 2

The general question should be: "¿Cuántos hijos tiene Carlos?" or "¿Cuántos niños tiene Carlos?"

If you only want to know how many sons: "¿Cuántos hijos hombres tiene Carlos?"

If you only want to know how many daughters: "¿Cuántos hijas tiene Carlos?" "¿Cuántos niñas tiene Carlos?"

Answer 3

Please correct me if I am wrong:

The asker doesn't know how many children and what gender. So the question would be ¿Cuantos hijos tiene Carlos? My understanding is when the gender is not known it takes the masculin form (sorry ladies).

If Carlos has 6 daughters and 4 sons, then Carlos would say, "Sí, tengo 10 hijos. Tengo 6 hijas y 4 hijos."

If you want a break down of boys and girls, you could ask ¿Cuantos hijos y hijas tiene Carlos? How many sons and daughters does Carlos have?

Or if the asker just wants to know the number of daughers, "¿Cuantos hijas tiene Carlos?"

En Español - La persona con la cuestión no sabe cuántos niños y qué género. Así que la pregunta sería ¿Cuantos hijos tiene Carlos? A mi entender, cuando el género no se conoce toma la forma masculin (perdóneme señoras).

Si Carlos tiene 6 Hijas y 4 Hijos, entonces decía Carlos, "Sí, tengo 10 hijos. Tengo 6 hijas y 4 hijos." ¿Sí o no?

Answer 4

You would ask the question in Spanish.in this; way "¿Cúantos hijos tiene Carlos? or, if the person's name has already been mentioned in the sentance and is implicitly understood ... simply, ¿Cúantos hijos tiene?

It makes NO difference whether he has just sons or sons and daughters since the masculine form of the noun always takes precedence when thare are: 1. Only sons/boys/men mentioned or 2. where both male and female are mentioned together.

The only excepetion would be if Carlos only had daughters - in which case the question would be phrased as :

"¿Cúantos hijas tiene (Carlos) ?" Assuming. of course,that you already knew/had been told that he only had daughters

However, if you were stating a fact you could say, "Carlos tiene dos hijas y un hijo."

I hope this helps.

Answer 5

Anton Said

The general question should be: "¿Cuántos hijos tiene Carlos?" or "¿Cuántos niños tiene Carlos?"

Yes Anton but that wasn't the question. From the way I am looking at it is the poster wanted to know if the majority determined the phrasing in a mixed group.