Questions with Quanto/Quanta (How much/many)

Quanto is the Portuguese word for how much and how many. Unlike English, which splits the concept into two words based on whether the noun is countable (many) or uncountable (much), Portuguese uses a single stem — quant- — and inflects it for gender and number to match the noun it describes. This is a feature, not a burden: once you know the gender of the noun, the form of quanto is predictable.

This page covers the four forms, the idiomatic uses you will hear every day (Quanto é?, Quanto tempo!), the difference between quantity and intensity uses, and the ways quanto steps beyond its interrogative role into exclamations and relative clauses.

The four forms — agreement with the noun

Portuguese treats quanto like an adjective. It agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies (or the noun implied if it stands alone).

Quanto + verb — the invariable form

When quanto modifies a verb directly — asking how much an action happens — it is invariable. It stays in the masculine singular form quanto, regardless of any surrounding noun.

The logic: here quanto is an adverb of quantity, not an adjective agreeing with a noun. Adverbs in Portuguese are invariable. (See the adverbs overview for the general principle.)

Quanto é? — asking the price

Asking how much something costs is one of the most frequent uses of quanto. There are three common phrasings.

In a restaurant or shop, Quanto é? is the minimal, idiomatic way to ask for the bill. Quanto custa? focuses on the price as a property of the item; Quanto fica? or Quanto dá? asks for a running total.

Quanto tempo? — how long

Time questions use quanto tempo — literally "how much time." The response typically gives a duration.

The há quanto tempo frame, with há as the existential marker, is the PT-PT way of asking "how long has it been since..." or "how long have you been...". This construction is worth learning as a unit — English speakers often try to translate with por quanto tempo (which is also possible but focuses on future duration).

Quanto tempo! — the greeting for a long absence

One of the most charming idiomatic uses of quanto. When you run into someone you have not seen in a while, you exclaim:

Literally it says "how much time!" — but the force is exclamatory, not interrogative. No question mark, no answer expected. English long time no see is the closest equivalent.

Exclamative quanto — "how much!"

Quanto (and its inflected forms) doubles as an exclamation marker — expressing surprise or intensity about quantity or degree.

The pattern is identical to the question, just with exclamation rather than question intonation — and usually an exclamation mark in writing.

The "é que" reinforcement

Like other PT-PT wh-questions, quanto takes the é que reinforcement naturally in everyday speech. This is the rhythm most native speakers use when the question is more than a three-word fragment.

Quantos anos tens? — age in Portuguese

A PT-PT staple worth spotlighting. Portuguese does not say "how old are you"; it says "how many years do you have."

Note the verb is ter (to have), not ser (to be). Sou vinte e três anos is a jarring error for PT-PT speakers.

Quanto as a relative pronoun

In higher registers, quanto also works as a relative pronoun meaning all that or as much as.

This usage is less common in everyday speech but standard in writing, literature, and formal address. The agreement follows the implied noun: Tem tantos amigos quantos quer — "he has as many friends as he wants" (quantos agrees with the masculine plural amigos).

Quanto in fixed expressions

A small set of high-frequency idioms uses quanto in ways that are slightly removed from its core meaning. Learn these as units.

Contrast with English "how much/many"

The key differences for English speakers:

1. Agreement. English how much/many does not change; Portuguese quanto matches the noun.
2. Age. English asks how old with an adjective; Portuguese asks quantos anos with ter.
3. Greeting. English long time no see becomes quanto tempo! — a genuine idiom, not a direct translation.
4. Price. English uses how much is it / does it cost — Portuguese has three slightly different verbs (é, custa, fica) that all work.
5. Exclamation. Portuguese uses the same word for "How much you love me!" and "How much do you love me?" — only intonation and punctuation distinguish them.

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

• Quanto has four forms — quanto, quanta, quantos, quantas — matching the gender and number of the noun.
• When modifying a verb, quanto is invariable (quanto custa, quanto pesa).
• Quanto é? / Quanto custa? are the everyday ways to ask a price.
• Quantos anos tens? is the way to ask someone's age, using ter (to have).
• Quanto tempo! is an idiomatic exclamation meaning "long time no see!"
• Quanto é que... — with é que reinforcement — is the conversational PT-PT rhythm for longer quantity questions.
• Quanto also works in exclamations (Quanta gente!) and relative clauses (tudo quanto sabia), and appears in useful idioms like quanto antes (ASAP), quanto a mim (as for me), and quanto mais... mais... (the more... the more...).