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Combien de grammes de sel est-ce que vous ajoutez ?

Combien de grammes de sel est-ce que vous ajoutez ?
How many grams of salt are you adding?
From Lesson 48:Asking how much or how many (combien, combien de)·French

Questions & Answers about Combien de grammes de sel est-ce que vous ajoutez ?

Why is it combien de grammes and not combien des grammes since 'grammes' is plural?
In French, the phrase for 'how many' is strictly combien de (or combien d' before a vowel). It never changes to des, even when talking about plural things like grammes.
I learned that 'some salt' is du sel. Why does this sentence say de sel?
When you have a specific word of measurement or quantity, like grammes (grams) or kilos (kilos), it is always followed by a simple de, not du, de la, or des. So 'grams of salt' is just grammes de sel.
Why is est-ce que placed after the salt, instead of at the very beginning of the sentence?
In French questions, the question words usually come first. Here, the whole chunk Combien de grammes de sel acts as the question phrase. We put that at the front, and then add est-ce que to show that the subject and verb (vous ajoutez) are coming next.
How do I know if vous ajoutez means 'you add' or 'you are adding'?
French only has one present tense! Vous ajoutez can mean both 'you add' in general and 'you are adding' right now. You just figure out which one it is based on the context.

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