Some of the most common questions in everyday life ask for a number: How much is it? What time is it? How old are you? How many people are coming? Dutch handles these with a tidy set of question words, most of them built on hoe (how). A couple of them work in ways English speakers don't expect — especially hoe laat for clock time and hoeveel followed by a singular noun. Get these few patterns right and you'll be asking for numbers like a native from day one.
The number-eliciting question words
| Dutch | English | Asks for |
|---|---|---|
| hoeveel | how many / how much | a quantity |
| hoe laat | what time | clock time |
| hoe oud | how old | age |
| hoe lang | how long / how tall | duration or height |
| hoe vaak | how often | frequency |
| welke | which | selection from a set |
| wat / hoeveel kost... | how much does ... cost | price |
Hoeveel — how many / how much (one word!)
Hoeveel covers both English "how many" (countable) and "how much" (uncountable) — Dutch doesn't split them. Two things to lock in. First, it's spelled as one word: hoeveel, never hoe veel. (The separate hoe veel exists only in the rare contrastive sense "how much?" with heavy stress, which you can ignore at A1.) Second — the one that catches English speakers — the form of the following noun depends on what it is. With an ordinary count noun, use the plural, just as in English: hoeveel mensen, hoeveel kaartjes, hoeveel dagen. But with a unit of measure (time, weight, money), the noun stays singular: hoeveel kilo, hoeveel uur, hoeveel jaar, hoeveel euro — never jaren or uren here.
Hoeveel mensen komen er vanavond?
How many people are coming tonight?
Hoeveel kost dit kaartje?
How much does this ticket cost?
Hoeveel suiker wil je in je koffie?
How much sugar do you want in your coffee? (uncountable — same word 'hoeveel')
A real native habit: after hoeveel, units of measure stay singular — hoeveel jaar (not jaren), hoeveel uur, hoeveel kilo, hoeveel euro. This is the same logic as in statements: "twee jaar," "drie uur," "vijf euro" — counted units of time, weight and money don't take a plural.
Hoeveel jaar woon je al in Nederland?
How many years have you lived in the Netherlands? (jaar stays singular)
Hoeveel euro heb je nog over?
How many euros have you got left? (euro stays singular)
Hoe laat — what time (not 'welke tijd'!)
To ask the clock time, Dutch says hoe laat — literally "how late." This is the number-one trap for English speakers, who reach for a literal "what time" and produce welke tijd, which is simply not Dutch for clock time. Welke tijd would mean "which (period of) time / which tense" — never "what o'clock."
Hoe laat is het?
What time is it?
Hoe laat begint de film?
What time does the film start?
Hoe laat moeten we er zijn?
What time do we need to be there?
Hoe oud, hoe lang, hoe vaak — age, length, frequency
These follow the same hoe + adjective/adverb pattern and all elicit a number.
Hoe oud asks age — and remember the answer uses jaar in the singular: Ik ben dertig jaar (or just Ik ben dertig).
Hoe oud is je dochter?
How old is your daughter?
Hoe lang is a useful double: it asks duration ("how long?") and height ("how tall?"). Context decides.
Hoe lang duurt de cursus?
How long does the course last? (duration)
Hoe lang ben jij? Ik ben één meter tachtig.
How tall are you? I'm one metre eighty. (height)
Hoe vaak asks frequency — how many times, how often.
Hoe vaak ga je naar de sportschool?
How often do you go to the gym?
Welke — which (picking from a set)
Welke asks you to choose from a known set — "which one(s)?" It can pair with numbers in the answer (which ones, how many of them) but itself asks for a selection, not a count. It agrees like an adjective: welke with de-words and plurals, welk with singular het-words.
Welke bus gaat naar het centrum?
Which bus goes to the centre?
Welk nummer heb jij?
Which number do you have? (het-woord 'nummer' → 'welk')
Asking the price
For price, both wat kost...? and hoeveel kost...? are correct and common; wat kost het? is the most everyday phrasing.
Wat kost een retourtje naar Rotterdam?
How much is a return ticket to Rotterdam?
Common Mistakes
❌ Welke tijd is het?
Incorrect — clock time is asked with 'hoe laat', never 'welke tijd'.
✅ Hoe laat is het?
What time is it?
❌ Hoeveel jaren woon je hier?
Incorrect — after 'hoeveel', the unit 'jaar' stays singular.
✅ Hoeveel jaar woon je hier?
How many years have you lived here?
❌ Hoe veel kost dit?
Incorrect spelling — 'hoeveel' is one word.
✅ Hoeveel kost dit?
How much does this cost?
❌ Hoe oud jaar ben je?
Incorrect — 'hoe oud' already means 'how old'; don't add 'jaar' to the question.
✅ Hoe oud ben je?
How old are you?
❌ Welke bus gaat naar het centrum? — Welk gaat het snelst?
Incorrect agreement — 'bus' is a de-woord, so it stays 'welke', not 'welk'.
✅ Welke bus gaat het snelst?
Which bus is the fastest?
Key Takeaways
- Hoeveel (one word!) covers both how many and how much; after it, units like jaar, uur, euro stay singular.
- Hoe laat, never welke tijd, asks for the clock time.
- Hoe oud (age), hoe lang (duration or height), hoe vaak (frequency) all follow hoe
- word and elicit a number.
- Welke / welk asks you to pick from a set; it agrees with the noun (welk + het-word, welke otherwise).
- For price, both wat kost...? and hoeveel kost...? work.
Now practice Dutch
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Start learning Dutch→Related Topics
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