いくつ

N5
how many, how old

Structure

いくつ replaces the actual quantity of items in the sentence.

Description

いくつ is a general-purpose question word that means "how many" and is primarily used to inquire about the quantity of objects. It can also be used to ask about a person's age, especially for children (instead of 何歳).

How many oranges are there?
How old is your child?

いくつ is more casual than specific counters, often used when the appropriate counter is unknown or unimportant.

いくつ is paired with the general Japanese counter ~つ for counting virtually anything (, , , etc.)

Examples

How many balls are there?
How many apples can I buy at this store?
How many do you need?
How old is your child?
How old is your younger brother?