Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[sleeper]

Hi, there.

If you want to know about the total number of cars sold in a certain period,
which of the following is most frequently used?

#1. How much are the sales?
#2. How much is the sales?
#3. How large are the sales?
#4. How large is the sales?
#5. What are the sales?
#6. What is the sales?

Are there any other ways to express the situation?

I'm looking forward to your answers.

Thanks.

[Mister Micawber]

.
First: 'sales' is plural, so #s 2, 4 and 6 are immediately wrong.

And if you are looking for the number of units sold, then none of those questions will automatically elicit the answer you seek. You must be specific: 'How many cars were sold?'
.
_________________
"I really do not know that anything has ever been more exciting than diagramming sentences." � Gertrude Stein
...............
Canadian-American who teaches English for a living at Mr Micawber's

[buddhaheart]

�Sales�, the plural of �sale�, may mean activities involved in selling goods or services; gross receipts; gross sales; income received for goods and services over some given period of time; the revenue from the sale of goods and services; the amount sold.

The word �sales� may function as an adjective as in sales records, sales clerk or sales department.

�Sales� may also function as a singular meaning the work involved in selling. For example, he is in sales.

You may ask: What are this month�s sales?
Note: The ans. would be in terms of money, not the # of cars sold.

I suppose you could clarify your question to get the ans. you wanted by How much are the sales in terms of car volume or the # of cars sold?