好几【hǎo jǐ】

好几 + measure word means "quite a few" or "several". 几 alone is a small, neutral "a few"; 好 in front stresses that the number is bigger than you'd think.

With 十, 百 or 千 it makes a rough large number: 好几十 "dozens", 好几百 "several hundred".

好几 or 几

几 in a statement is an unremarkable "a few". 好几 adds the speaker's sense that it is a lot.

好几 is never a question. "How many?" is 几 alone.

The measure word stays

Like 几, 好几 needs a measure word before the noun.

• × 好几人 → 好几个人
• × 好几书 → 好几本书

With a length of time, 好几 + time word goes after the verb: 等了好几天. Some time words, like 天 and 年, need no measure word; 小时 and 月 take 个: 好几个小时, 好几个月.