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How Do You Say "How Much" in Spanish (And So Much More!)?

How do you say "how much" in Spanish? In this lesson, you will learn to say "how much" in Spanish in both questions and statements as well to formulate some more specific "how much" questions and answers that you might be eager to learn!

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How Do You Say "How Much" in Spanish? 

The simplest answer to this question is that, while there may be additional ways of saying "how much" in Spanish in particular contexts, the word cuánto is the most common way to say "how much" in Spanish and the one we will focus on today. Let's take a look at this word in action:

 

Ay, papá, para que se dé cuenta cuánto

Oh, dude, so that you realize how much

vamos a ganar con este negocio;

we are going to earn with this business;

Caption 11, Tu Voz Estéreo - Laura

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While, in the example above, the word cuánto functions as a adverb meaning "how much" in Spanish, the word cuánto can also act as an adjective. In such cases, it will need to agree with the noun it modifies in terms of number and gender. Let's take a look at some examples of the word cuánto in its singular/plural and masculine/feminine forms:

 

Quiero, quiero, quiero ver cuánto amor a ti te cabe

I want, I want, I want to see how much love fits in you

Caption 40, Luis Fonsi ft. Daddy Yankee - Despacito

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Escúchame, ¿cuántos frigoríficos necesitáis?

Listen to me, how many refrigerators do you guys need?

Caption 46, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa - Part 2

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¿Cuánta harina le agrego?

How much flour shall I add to it?

Caption 72, Ricardo - La compañera de casa

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¿Cuántas palabras sabes en español?

How many words do you know in Spanish?

Caption 1, El Aula Azul - Adivina qué es

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Notice that the translation for the plural forms of the word cuántocuántos and cuántas, is "how many."
 

Common Expressions with "How Much" in Spanish

Now that you know how to say "how much" in Spanish, let's look at some of the most searched-for English phrases including the words "how much" that many people want to learn how to say in Spanish:

 

1. "How much money" in Spanish

 

As one of the most common things one might associate with the words "how much" is money. You might be curious about how to say "how much money" in Spanish, which is simple: Add the singular masculine form of the adjective cuánto to the word for money, dinero, which is masculine and singular as well:

 

¿Cuánto dinero se puede sacar? Perras.

How much money can one get? Coins [colloquial].

Caption 48, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa - Part 5

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2. "How much does it cost?" in Spanish

 

Now that we're talking about money, the abilty to ask the question, "How much does it cost?" in Spanish might come in extremely handy when traveling to a Spanish-speaking country. So, how do you say "How much does it cost?" in Spanish?

 

As it turns out, there are a number of ways to say "How much does it cost?" in Spanish. Most literally, as the verb costar means "to cost" in Spanish, "¿Cuánto cuesta?" and "¿Cuánto cuestan?" mean "How much does it cost?" or "How much do they cost?" respectively, with the verb conjugated in the third person singular or plural depending upon whether what is being asked about is singular or plural. In these cases, the word cuánto functions as an adverb meaning "how much" in Spanish and is thus always masculine and singular. 

 

¿Cuánto cuesta esta billetera?

How much does this wallet cost?

¿Cuánto cuesta esta cartera?

How much does this purse cost?

Captions 32-33, Ana Carolina - Salir de compras

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¿Y cuánto cuestan las lecciones?

And how much do the lessons cost?

Caption 21, Costa Azul Surf Shop - Hablando con los Empleados Del Surf

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The Spanish expression "¿Cuánto vale?" (literally "How much is it worth?") can also mean "How much does it cost?" in Spanish, with the verb conjugated in singular or plural once again depending on the sentence's subject, which is singular (este coche, or "this car") in this sentence:

 

¿Cuánto vale este coche?

How much does this car cost?

Este coche vale nuevo treinta y seis mil euros. 

This car costs new thirty-six thousand euros.

Captions 60-61, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos - Part 18

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Yet another expression meaning "How much does it cost?" in Spanish is: "¿A cuánto sale?" which might be literally translated as "What does it come out to?" The plural form salen would, of course, be used to ask about more than one noun.

 

¿A cuánto sale más o menos el botecito?

How much does the little jar cost, more or less?

Caption 29, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa - Part 6

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4. "How much is it?" in Spanish 

 
Just like "How much is it?" is an alternative manner of asking "How much does it cost?" in English, "¿Cuánto es?"  is another way of asking "¿Cuánto cuesta?" in Spanish. As an example, you could say "¿Cuánto es esto?" if you want to ask "How much is this?" in Spanish (or "¿Cuánto son estos?" to say "How much are these?").  Let's take a look at this expression in the past imperfect tense:
 

¿Cuánto era, dos zoquitos? Eh. -No sé si...

How much was it, two zoquitos? Yeah. -I don't know if...

Caption 26, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos - Part 5

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5. "How much do I owe you?" in Spanish 

 

To continue on our money theme, you might need to ask a waiter, for example, "How much do I owe you?" in Spanish. The Spanish verb for "to owe" is deber, as illustrated in the following sentence:

 

si debés más, pues, multiplicado,

if you owe more, well, multiplied,

te daría una deuda mucho mayor.

it would give you a much bigger debt.

Caption 47, Cuentas claras - Sobreviviendo enero

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Hence the way to ask "How much do I owe you?" in Spanish would be "¿Cuánto te debo?" or "¿Cuánto le debo?" where deber is conjugated in the first person (yo, or "I") and te or le are the indirect object pronouns representing "you" with either tú or usted.

 

6. "How much do you weigh?" in Spanish 

 

Even though this might be an unpopular question in some circles, many people are curious to know how to say "How much do you weigh?" in Spanish. Since the verb pesar means "to weigh," it can be paired with cuánto to ask about a person's weight as follows:

 

¿La madre, cuánto puede pesar, Jesús?

The mother, how much can she weigh, Jesus?

Caption 81, Animales en familia - Un día en Bioparc: Cachorro de leopardo

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"¿Cuánto pesas?" (with ) or "¿Cuánto pesa?" (with usted) would thus be manners of asking someone "How much do you weigh?" in Spanish. 
 

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Additional Expressions with Cuánto/s with Different English Translations 

Although our focus today has been how to translate English questions with "how much" into Spanish using the word cuánto and its variants, we should take a moment to mention that two of the most common Spanish questions that employ this word are not literally translated as "how much" or "how" many" in English. Let's take a look:

 

1. ¿Cuántos años tienes? 

 

You have probably heard the very common Spanish questions: "¿Cuántos años tienes?" or "¿Cuántos años tiene?"

 

¿Tú cuántos años tienes, Mariano?

How old are you, Mariano?

Yo, treinta y cinco. -¿Estás casado, tienes niños?

Me, thirty-five. -Are you married; do you have kids?

Captions 69-70, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa - Part 6

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Although "¿Cuántos años tienes?" literally means "How many years do you have?" this is the English equivalent of "How old are you?" since the Spanish "tener años" (to have years) refers to being a certain age. 
 

2. ¿Cuánto tiempo? 

 

Although the Spanish phrase "cuánto tiempo" literally means "how much time," this is most commonly expressed in English as "how long."

 

Para ese momento ¿ustedes cuánto tiempo llevaban de novios?

At that time, how long had you been girlfriend and boyfriend?

Caption 27, Tu Voz Estéreo - Feliz Navidad

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A Couple of Answers to Questions with "How Much" in Spanish

Now that you know a multitude of questions that include the concept of "how much" in Spanish, it might be useful know a couple of answers! Since one possible response to "How much?" might be "Too much," let's learn how to say "too much" in Spanish, which is most often expressed with the Spanish word demasiado.
 

¿Tu marido trabaja

Your husband works

de domingo a domingo. ¿Cuánto? -Demasiado trabaja.

from Sunday to Sunday. How much? -He works too much.

Captions 29-30, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa - Part 19

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Another common English response to the question of "How much?" in English could be "Not much"! So, how do you say "not much" in Spanish? This one is pretty literal and simple! Let's take a look:

 

Bueno, sé un poquito pero no mucho.

Well, I know a little bit but not much.

Caption 3, Arume - La Vida Escolar

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In Conclusion...

To wrap up today's lesson on "how much" in Spanish, allow us to ask: ¿Cuánto aprendiste? (How much did you learn?). We hope that the answer is "very much" and look forward to your suggestions and comments

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