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HSK 1

多

many; much; how (in questions)

adjectiveneutral4 episodes
多
duō1st tone

HSK level

1
2
3
4
5
6
Pinyin
duō
Part of speech
adjective
Level
HSK 1
Strokes
6
Register
neutral
In episodes
4

Stroke order for 多

多 is written with 6 strokes. The animation replays automatically.

What does 多 mean?

多 (duō) means 'many' or 'much' — it describes QUANTITY, not size.

It works as an adjective (人很多 — there are many people) and also as a question word meaning 'how': 多大 (how old / how big), 多少 (how many / how much), 多远 (how far). When 多 modifies a noun directly, it usually takes 很 first — 很多人 (many people) — but never 多人 on its own.

Unlike English 'many' (countable) vs 'much' (uncountable), 多 covers both: 很多书 (many books) and 很多水 (much water) use the same word. As a question prefix, 多 + adjective asks the DEGREE of that adjective and is one of the most useful patterns in beginner Chinese.

Hear 多 in real episodes

多 appears in 4 Fluentide podcast episodes at natural native speed — each with the full Chinese script, pinyin, and line-by-line English translation.

America's Most Fought-Over ZIP Codes Are Not the Cheap Ones. They're the Ones With Nothing for Sale.多 spoken at natural speedbeginnerFlorida Pays People to Hunt Pythons. One Man Caught 96 in 10 Days.多 spoken at natural speedbeginnerWall Street's AI Star Bet $45 Billion, Then Watched It Collapse in Weeks多 spoken at natural speedbeginnerSpending More and More on AI: Microsoft and Meta's New Bill多 spoken at natural speedeasy
Browse the full episode library

Example sentences

我有很多朋友。

Wǒ yǒu hěn duō péngyou.

I have a lot of friends.

spoken

这个多少钱？

Zhè gè duōshao qián?

How much is this?

spoken

你今年多大？

Nǐ jīnnián duō dà?

How old are you this year?

spoken

今天人很多。

Jīntiān rén hěn duō.

There are a lot of people today.

neutral

Common phrases with 多

很多hěn duōmany / a lot
多少duōshaohow many; how much
多大duō dàhow old / how big
多少钱duōshao qiánhow much money / what's the price
差不多chàbuduōalmost; about the same

Synonyms

许多xǔduō

许多 also means 'many / a lot' but is slightly more written and formal. 很多 is the everyday spoken default; 许多 shows up more in books and articles.

Don't confuse 多 with

大dà

大 is size (big); 多 is quantity (many). 大书 = a big book; 多书 → 很多书 = many books.

几jǐ

几 asks 'how many' when the answer is expected to be small (under 10). 多少 asks 'how many / much' for any quantity, including prices.

FAQ

Related words from the same episodes

便宜cheap聪明clever地方place, spot电脑computer高兴happy公司company股票stock贵expensive科技technology买to buy卖to sell钱money

Acquire it by listening

Meet 多 again — in real Chinese, at your level.

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