Log inSign up

Combien de bouteilles d'eau est-ce qu'il y a dans cette boîte ?

Combien de bouteilles d'eau est-ce qu'il y a dans cette boîte ?
How many bottles of water are there in this box?
From Lesson 48:Asking how much or how many (combien, combien de)·French

Questions & Answers about Combien de bouteilles d'eau est-ce qu'il y a dans cette boîte ?

Why is it Combien de bouteilles instead of Combien des bouteilles since there are multiple bottles?
After words of quantity like combien (how much / how many), you always use de (or d' before a vowel sound). You never use the plural des after combien, even though bouteilles is plural.
Why is it d'eau and not de l'eau?
Containers act like quantity words, too! When you specify what a container holds, like "a bottle of water" (une bouteille d'eau), you just use de (which becomes d' before the vowel in eau) without the word for "the" (l').
How do you form the question est-ce qu'il y a?
Il y a means "there is" or "there are". To turn it into a yes/no question, we put the standard question-maker est-ce que right in front of it. Because il starts with a vowel, que drops its "e" and becomes qu', giving us est-ce qu'il y a (is there / are there).
Why do we use cette before boîte?
Cette means "this" or "that" and is used for feminine nouns. Since boîte (box) is a feminine noun, it must be cette boîte. If the noun were masculine, you would use ce (or cet before a vowel).

Learn Combien de bouteilles d'eau est-ce qu'il y a dans cette boîte and more in French

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning French →