Korean Job Discussion Forums

[raewon]

A quick question - is it wrong to teach students the question

"How many [plural count noun]?" instead of using "How many [ ] are there?" OR "How many [ ] do you have?"

How many have you have come across the question "How many books/pencils/pens?" before?

Thanks in advance for your answer.

[drydell]

It's an incomplete sentence isn't it?

How many books?...what? are there in the world? in the class? on the table?
It would be like asking How much time?...with no other info..

Even the sentence How many books are there? implies additional knowledge of the situation - such as reference to a picture.

maybe the grammarians on here can specify exactly why though..