'câți/câte' + noun (how many)

Pattern

Câți (masc.) / câte (fem.) + noun = "how many ___?" Example: Câți ani ai? (How many years do you have?) — How old are you?

Explanation

To ask "how many?" in Romanian, you must match the gender of what you're counting. Câți for masculine plural nouns (câți băieți, câți ani, câți frați). Câte for feminine and neuter plural nouns (câte fete, câte cărți, câte zile). Wrong gender sounds immediately foreign to a native.

The structure is straightforward: câți/câte + (de) + noun (in plural) + verb. Câți copii ai? (How many children do you have?). Câte ore lucrezi pe zi? (How many hours do you work per day?). For inanimate quantities, de sometimes appears: Câte kilograme de mere vrei? (How many kilos of apples do you want?).

For uncountable things ("how much"), use cât (masc.) or câtă (fem.) in the singular: Cât timp ai? (How much time do you have?), Câtă apă bei? (How much water do you drink?). Don't mix them up — countable vs. uncountable matters in Romanian, like in English.

Examples

Common mistakes

• Using "câți" with feminine nouns: Câți cărți is wrong — it's câte cărți.
• Confusing câți/câte (countable) with cât/câtă (uncountable): Câți timp is wrong; time is uncountable singular: cât timp.
• Singular noun after câți/câte: Câți copil is wrong; it must be plural: câți copii.