cuanto cuesta, require lo?

Question

I understand how to say: "How much does it cost?" is "¿Cuanto cuesta?"

But I am wondering if the "it" in this can also be added (if you wanted to).

For instance is:

"¿Cuanto lo cuesta?" acceptable for

"How much is it?"

Thank you

Hello, welcome to the forum! - rac1, Jul 11, 2012

Answer 1

No, the pronoun cannot be placed as no direct object exists in that statement.

The it in this case acts as our subject, and therefore is conugated in the verb costar.

¿Cuánto cuesta? How much does it cost? It costs how much?

So when you use the "el/ella/usted' form of a verb and you wanna say "it" there is no "it" pronoun? sorry if i'm being confusing - hershey964, Jul 11, 2012

Correct. When "it" acts as a subject, no pronoun is needed unless a direct object is introduced. In English however [and I assume in Spanish as well], two "it"s sound redundant and are usually avoided. - BradyLabuda, Jul 11, 2012

Answer 2

No "cuanto lo cuesta" have no sense in spanish, if you want to say "how much is it?", a correct form will be "cuanto cuesta eso?"

Answer 3

Great question, Hershey. Welcome to the forum!

Both ¿Cuánto cuesta? and ¿Cuánto vale? are the most common ways to say this...no "lo" required.

Answer 4

Another way to say it is, "¿Cual es el precio de esto?"

Which/what is the price of this?

Hey, amiga, don't forget your accent mark on ¿Cuál? - --Mariana--, Jul 12, 2012