cuántos o cuánto

Question

¿Por qué es "cuántos años" pero "cuánto cuestan"? Los todos son plurales, ¿verdad?

Please fill out your profile so that we may better help you , welcome to the forum Buena suerte . - ray76, May 23, 2014

Answer 1

My friend ,, the answer to your question is very simple ... in the first sentence cuánto acts as an adjective because it is associated with the noun Año... and as per the spanish grammar rules tye adjectives (when used with countable nouns) have to agree in gender and number in concurrence with the noun they modify or describe ....

However in the second sentence ,, the same word "cuánto " is playing the role of an adverbio (an adverb) ... as it is modifying the verb costar .... say ,, for example we say .. cuánto cuestan las fresas .....in this sentence .. we have a verb costar (to cost) and we have a noun (fresas ) and we have the word cuánto (our magic word) .. but if u analyze the mechanism or the dynamics of this sentence ,, u would very well notice that the magic word cuánto here is married to the verb (and not the noun) ... (how much does it cost .....to buy the strawberries) ..so that is why it is playing the role of an adverb and the adverbs don't change form (singular, plural and gender) .... if in the same sentence ,, our magic word cuánto divorces the verb costar and now marries the noun " fresas" .. then it will need to agree with the noun .. for example .. cuántas fresas cuestan dos euros (how many strawberries will cost 2 euros) ..

Hope u understand the logic now .. hehe

Good job jimmy1978! - emilyher618, May 23, 2014

thanks ma'am - 00b055e0, May 23, 2014

Thanks a tonne, Jimmy. I should have realized the logic, but somehow in a new language, things seem different. Mark - MarkMast, May 23, 2014

you are welcome .. don't worry it will soon start sinking in .. best of luck :) - 00b055e0, May 23, 2014

Your level of grammar knowledge is impressive. And I doubt that it will ever "sink in" with my think skull. But I enjoyed reading your very precise answer. - gringojrf, May 23, 2014

thank you my friend ... your appreciation means a lot .. but we all have our respective strengths and weaknesses .. for example in my case .. my spellings are poor and my handwriting is pathetic :( - 00b055e0, May 23, 2014

You are on the ball as ever Jimmy , what would we do without you . Thanks mate. - ray76, May 23, 2014

thank you Sir .. warm regards :) - 00b055e0, May 24, 2014

Answer 2

It is the same as in:

How many

How much

hello friend ... how much and how many ..has to do with the concept of countables and non-count nouns .. like how much milk do u drink and how many apples do u eat ... this one is a different case .. hehe - 00b055e0, May 23, 2014

Correct. how many = cuantos and how much = cuanto. - chileno, May 23, 2014

If you don't get it, I can expand the answer. I am assuming you are an English speaking native. - chileno, May 23, 2014

I think he understands now .... how are doing my friend ... how are things going in Chile - 00b055e0, May 23, 2014

I am in Lost Wages, Nevada... :-D - chileno, May 24, 2014

lost wages .. hahahahahahahaha .. so funny - 00b055e0, May 24, 2014

Answer 3

Note that the noun año is in plural, whereas when you use costar you are questioning about the monetary value (valor en dinero) of something.

¿Cuánto+costar/valer? is a set phrase meant for asking for the money price of something, but then you have:

La independencia de la colonia nos costó muchas vidas, ¿cuántas costará la secesión?.

See how grammar is always consistent with itself?

Same thing in English. - chileno, May 23, 2014