Interrogative Quanto / Quanta / Quantos / Quantas: How Much/Many

English uses two separate phrases — how much (for uncountable things) and how many (for countable things). Portuguese uses one word, quanto, but in exchange it makes that word agree in gender and number with the noun it refers to. So instead of choosing between much and many, you choose between four endings: quanto, quanta, quantos, quantas. This page shows how to pick the right one — and covers the two everyday situations that don't quite follow the pattern: prices and age.

The four forms

Quanto behaves like an adjective: it must match the noun it modifies in gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural).

The logic is the same one you already apply to articles and adjectives: look at the noun, check its gender and number, and shape quanto to match. Dinheiro is masculine singular → quanto. Água and gente are feminine → quanta. Anos, irmãos are masculine plural → quantos. Vezes, pessoas are feminine plural → quantas.

The English split mapped onto Portuguese

It helps to see exactly how the English two-way split lines up:

• English how much (uncountable) → quanto / quanta (singular form): quanto açúcar, quanta paciência.
• English how many (countable) → quantos / quantas (plural form): quantos dias, quantas horas.

So Portuguese's singular-vs-plural distinction does roughly the same job as English's much-vs-many — but Portuguese also forces you to add gender on top. That extra agreement is the only genuinely new thing for an English speaker here.

Prices: Quanto custa? / Quanto é?

When you ask the price of something, quanto stays in its bare masculine-singular form. It is not agreeing with the product — it is functioning as a standalone how much (does it cost). This is the form you will use constantly while shopping.

Note that even when the item is plural or feminine, the price question stays quanto: Quanto custam as bananas? (How much do the bananas cost?) — the verb custam goes plural to agree with bananas, but quanto itself does not change, because here it means how much (money), an uncountable amount. This mirrors English, which also keeps how much regardless of what is being priced.

Age: Quantos anos você tem?

Portuguese does not say how old are you. It asks, literally, how many years do you have: Quantos anos você tem? Because anos (years) is masculine plural, the form is quantos.

This trips up English speakers twice: first, you must use ter (to have), not ser (to be) — eu tenho 30 anos, never eu sou 30 anos; second, the question word is quantos (agreeing with anos), not bare quanto. Memorize Quantos anos você tem? as a fixed phrase; it is one of the most frequent questions in the language.

Standalone quanto (no noun present)

When quanto stands alone, with no noun to agree with, it defaults to the masculine singular quanto, meaning how much.

This default is exactly like the price case: with no noun in sight, quanto falls back to its base form.

Common Mistakes

Pessoas is feminine plural, so the form must be quantas. Failing to agree is the most common error, because English never changes how many.

Uncountable água (feminine) takes the singular feminine quanta, not the plural quantos.

Because you are counting anos (plural), the form is quantos, not bare quanto.

There is no how old in Portuguese. You ask how many years you have, with ter.

For prices, quanto does not agree with the product; it stays quanto because it refers to an amount of money. Only the verb agrees (Quanto custam as camisetas?).

Key Takeaways

• Quanto agrees with its noun in gender and number: quanto, quanta, quantos, quantas.
• English how much → singular forms; how many → plural forms; Portuguese adds gender on top.
• Prices use bare Quanto custa? / Quanto é? — quanto doesn't agree, only the verb does.
• Age is Quantos anos você tem? — how many years do you have, with ter and plural quantos.