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Combien de paquets de pâtes est-ce que tu prépares ?

Combien de paquets de pâtes est-ce que tu prépares ?
How many packets of pasta are you preparing?
From Lesson 48:Asking how much or how many (combien, combien de)·French

Questions & Answers about Combien de paquets de pâtes est-ce que tu prépares ?

Why is it Combien de instead of just Combien?
When you are asking "how many" or "how much" of a specific noun, you must use combien de followed by that noun. Here, you're asking "how many packets", so it has to be Combien de paquets. If you were just asking "How much is it?" without naming the object, you would just use Combien.
Since "paquets" is plural, shouldn't it be Combien des paquets?
No, and this is a strict rule in French! Expressions of quantity (like combien de, beaucoup de, and un peu de) always use just de or d', never des. Even though you mean "packets" (plural), it stays Combien de paquets.
Why is there another de in paquets de pâtes?
The second de connects the container to its contents, exactly like "of" in English: "packets of pasta". And just like the quantity rule above, when describing what a container holds, you just use de (or d'), not des.
Why do we use est-ce que in the middle of this sentence?
Est-ce que is a handy tool to turn a statement into a question. When you use a question phrase (like Combien de paquets de pâtes), you can place est-ce que right after it, before the subject (tu) and the verb (prépares).
The English translation says "are you preparing", but isn't prépares just the normal present tense?
Yes! French doesn't have a separate tense for actions happening right now (like "am doing" or "are making" in English). The standard present tense (tu prépares) translates to both "you prepare" and "you are preparing".

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