How Tall, How Far in Mandarin: 多高, 多远, 多大 With 多
By Michael McGettrick and Wee Khang LinUpdated 12 October 2026
Put (duō) in front of an adjective and you ask how much of it: ？ (nǐ duō gāo?), how tall are you? English needs "how" plus the adjective; Mandarin needs plus the adjective, and the answer goes back in the same place.
Quick check
Three quick questions on what you have just read. The full practice is further down.
Pick the right one
0/3多 or 多少? Look at what comes next.
你高？ (How tall are you?)
nǐ ___ gāo ？ (How tall are you?)
这个钱？ (How much is this?)
zhè ge ___ qián ？ (How much is this?)
机场远？ (How far is the airport?)
jī chǎng ___ yuǎn ？ (How far is the airport?)
The whole system on one screen
The colours stay the same all page long:
| Hanzi | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
？ | Nǐ duō gāo? | How tall are you? |
？ | Nǐ duō dà? | How old are you? |
？ | Jīchǎng duō yuǎn? | How far is the airport? |
？ | Zhè tiáo lù duō cháng? | How long is this road? |
？ | Zhège xiāngzi duō zhòng? | How heavy is this box? |
？ | Nǐ děng le duōjiǔ? | How long did you wait? |
No (shì), no (hěn), no (ma): the adjective does the work of the verb, as it does in a plain statement.
Ask from the big end
A plain question uses the big end of the scale, whatever the answer turns out to be:
| Hanzi | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| duō gāo | how tall, high |
| duō dà | how big, old |
| duō yuǎn | how far |
| duō cháng | how long |
| duō zhòng | how heavy |
大 (dà): big. 小 (xiǎo): small. Both apples get the same question: 多大？ (duō dà?), how big is it?
So a short road is still (duō cháng), and a small flat is still (duō dà). (duō ǎi), how short, is possible, but it already assumes the person is short.
For age, ？ (nǐ duō dà?) suits teenagers and adults. To a small child say ？ (nǐ jǐ suì?); to an older person, politely, ？ (nín duō dà niánjì?).
Answering: the number takes the place of 多 (duō)
Drop (duō) and put the measurement where it was:
| Hanzi | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
。 | Wǒ yì mǐ bā. | I'm one metre eighty |
。 | Wǒ èrshíwǔ suì. | I'm twenty-five |
。 | Zhè tiáo lù yǒu sān gōnglǐ cháng. | This road is three kilometres long |
。 | Zhège xiāngzi yǒu èrshí gōngjīn zhòng. | This box weighs twenty kilos |
With length and weight the adjective can follow the number to say which measurement it is, and (yǒu) often goes in front. Height and age can do without both, since (yì mǐ bā) can only be a height, though (tā yǒu yì mǐ bā), he's all of one metre eighty, is common too.
How far apart: 离 (lí)
For distance between two places, (lí) sits between them, and (duō yuǎn) or the answer comes last:
| Hanzi | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
？ | Nǐ jiā lí zhèr duō yuǎn? | How far is your home from here? |
。 | Wǒ jiā lí xuéxiào hěn jìn. | My home is very close to school |
。 | Jīchǎng lí zhèr hěn yuǎn. | The airport is a long way from here |
。 | Lí zhèr zǒulù wǔ fēnzhōng. | It's five minutes' walk from here |
No one has to move: (lí) only measures the gap. The full pattern is on co-verbs.
How long in time: 多久 (duōjiǔ)
(duō cháng) on its own measures length. For time, use (duōjiǔ) or the longer (duō cháng shíjiān); both are everyday Mandarin:
| Hanzi | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
？ | Nǐ děng le duōjiǔ? | How long did you wait? |
？ | Nǐ xué le duō cháng shíjiān? | How long did you study? |
？ | Hái yào děng duōjiǔ? | How much longer do we have to wait? |
The time goes after the verb, where the answer will sit: (wǒ děng le shí fēnzhōng), I waited ten minutes. More on duration complements.
多 (duō) or 多少 (duōshao)?
Look at the next word. An adjective takes (duō); a noun takes (duōshao):
| Hanzi | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
？ | Nǐ duō gāo? | How tall are you? |
？ | Zhège duōshao qián? | How much is this? |
？ | Zhè tiáo lù duō cháng? | How long is this road? |
？ | Nǐmen bān yǒu duōshao xuésheng? | How many students are in your class? |
(duō) asks how much of a quality; (duōshao) asks how many things or how much stuff. All the question words are together on question words.
Just how: 有多 (yǒu duō)
Put (yǒu) before (duō) and the question becomes "just how". Inside a longer sentence, after (zhīdào) or (kàn), is the usual form:
| Hanzi | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
？ | Zhè zuò shān yǒu duō gāo? | How high is this mountain? |
。 | Wǒ bù zhīdào tā yǒu duō gāo. | I don't know how tall he is |
。 | Nǐ bù zhīdào zhè yǒu duō nán. | You've no idea how hard this is |
！ | Nǐ kàn tā pǎo de yǒu duō kuài! | Look how fast he runs! |
Here the small end is fine, because you are not measuring: (nǐ bù zhīdào nàge fángjiān yǒu duō xiǎo), you've no idea how small that room is.
How …!: 多 (duō)…啊 (a) and 多么 (duōme)
With (a) at the end and a falling voice, (duō) stops asking and starts exclaiming. Any adjective works:
| Hanzi | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
！ | Duō hǎo a! | How lovely! |
！ | Zhèr duō měi a! | How beautiful it is here! |
！ | Tā duōme cōngming a! | How clever he is! |
(duōme) is the fuller form and sounds weightier, the word of songs and speeches; in casual chat plain … (duō… a) does the job.
Mistakes English speakers make
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
？ | ？ | (zěnme) asks how you do something |
？ | ？ | (duōshao) goes before a noun |
？ | ？ | money is an amount: (duōshao) |
？ | ？ | for a plain "how old is your sister?": ask from the big end |
What to do next
- Do the drill below.
- Ask and answer about yourself:
？(nǐ duō gāo?),？(nǐ jiā lí xuéxiào duō yuǎn?). - Then review the whole question family on question words.