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Asking 'How many?' (Колко?)

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Grammar Rule in 30 Seconds

Use 'Колко' to ask about quantity, followed by the noun you are counting.

  • Use 'Колко' before the noun: 'Колко ябълки?' (How many apples?)
  • The noun usually takes the plural form: 'Колко стола?' (How many chairs?)
  • Add 'има' for existence: 'Колко стола има?' (How many chairs are there?)
Колко + [Noun in Plural] + (има)?

Meanings

The interrogative word 'Колко' is used to inquire about the quantity of countable objects or the degree of something.

1

Countable quantity

Asking for a specific number of items.

“Колко книги имаш?”

“Колко лева струва това?”

2

Degree/Intensity

Asking 'how much' in terms of intensity.

“Колко е студено!”

“Колко е красиво!”

Basic Usage of Колко

Structure Bulgarian English Usage
Quantity Колко книги? How many books? Direct question
Existence Колко книги има? How many books are there? Existence
Price Колко струва? How much does it cost? Financial
Degree Колко е голямо? How big is it? Adjective
Time Колко часа е? What time is it? Time
Age На колко години си? How old are you? Age

Reference Table

Reference table for Asking 'How many?' (Колко?)
Form Structure Example
Simple Колко + Noun Колко стола?
Existential Колко + Noun + има Колко стола има?
Adjectival Колко + е + Adj Колко е студено?
Financial Колко + струва Колко струва?
Temporal Колко + часа Колко часа е?
Age На + колко + години На колко години си?
Negative Не знам колко Не знам колко има.

Formalitätsspektrum

Formell
Колко струва този артикул?

Колко струва този артикул? (Shopping)

Neutral
Колко струва това?

Колко струва това? (Shopping)

Informell
Колко е?

Колко е? (Shopping)

Umgangssprache
Колко пара?

Колко пара? (Shopping)

The Many Uses of Колко

Колко

Quantity

  • Колко книги How many books

Price

  • Колко струва How much cost

Degree

  • Колко е хубаво How nice
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Beispiele nach Niveau

1

Колко стола?

How many chairs?

2

Колко ябълки?

How many apples?

3

Колко деца?

How many children?

4

Колко лева?

How many leva?

1

Колко студенти има тук?

How many students are here?

2

Колко струва това кафе?

How much does this coffee cost?

3

Колко време имаме?

How much time do we have?

4

Колко пъти беше там?

How many times were you there?

1

Колко е хубаво времето днес!

How nice the weather is today!

2

Не знам колко хора ще дойдат.

I don't know how many people will come.

3

Колко е важно да учиш.

How important it is to study.

4

Колко ли струва този апартамент?

I wonder how much this apartment costs?

1

Колкото повече, толкова по-добре.

The more, the better.

2

Той попита колко души са присъствали.

He asked how many people were present.

3

Колкото и да се опитвам, не мога.

No matter how much I try, I can't.

4

Колко пъти трябва да повтарям?

How many times must I repeat?

1

Колкото до въпроса за бюджета, не знам.

As for the question of the budget, I don't know.

2

Колкото и да е странно, той се съгласи.

Strange as it may seem, he agreed.

3

Колкото по-рано, толкова по-добре.

The sooner, the better.

4

Колко ли още ще чакаме?

How much longer will we be waiting?

1

Колкото и да е парадоксално, решението е просто.

Paradoxical as it may be, the solution is simple.

2

Колкото до неговата мотивация, тя остава неясна.

As for his motivation, it remains unclear.

3

Колкото и да се стараем, някои неща са извън контрол.

No matter how hard we try, some things are out of control.

4

Колко ли е дълга историята на този град?

How long is the history of this city?

Leicht verwechselbar

Asking 'How many?' (Колко?) vs. Колко vs. Колкото

Learners mix up the interrogative 'Колко' with the relative 'Колкото'.

Asking 'How many?' (Колко?) vs. Колко vs. Колко ли

Learners don't know when to add 'ли'.

Asking 'How many?' (Колко?) vs. Колко vs. Какво

Both are question words.

Häufige Fehler

✗

Колко ябълка?

✓

Колко ябълки?

Must use plural.
✗

Колко има ябълки?

✓

Колко ябълки има?

Verb 'има' goes at the end.
✗

Колко е книга?

✓

Колко книги?

Don't use 'е' for quantity.
✗

Колко струват?

✓

Колко струва?

Usually singular for price.
✗

Колко време има?

✓

Колко е часът?

Time vs duration.
✗

Колко си години?

✓

На колко години си?

Need 'на'.
✗

Колко голям е?

✓

Колко е голям?

Word order.
✗

Колкото повече, толкова повече.

✓

Колкото повече, толкова по-добре.

Idiom usage.
✗

Не знам колко е хора.

✓

Не знам колко хора са.

Verb agreement.
✗

Колко ли е струва?

✓

Колко ли струва?

Extra verb.
✗

Колко до въпроса...

✓

Колкото до въпроса...

Missing 'то'.
✗

Колко и да е...

✓

Колкото и да е...

Missing 'то'.
✗

Колкото повече, толкова по-голям.

✓

Колкото повече, толкова по-големи.

Agreement.

Satzmuster

Колко ___ има?

Колко струва ___?

Колко е ___?

На колко години е ___?

Real World Usage

Market constant

Колко струват тези домати?

Texting very common

Колко човека ще сте?

Travel common

Колко време отнема?

School common

Колко задачи имаме?

Social Media occasional

Колко е хубаво!

Job Interview occasional

Колко години опит имате?

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💡

Plural is Key

Always use the plural noun after 'Колко'. Even if you think there is only one.
⚠️

Don't forget 'има'

When asking about existence, 'има' is mandatory.
🎯

Use for Adjectives

You can use 'Колко' to express surprise or intensity with adjectives.
💬

Market Etiquette

It is perfectly polite to walk up to a stall and just say 'Колко?' while pointing.

Smart Tips

Always add the plural noun immediately after 'Колко'.

Колко книга? → Колко книги?

Don't forget the verb 'има' at the end of the sentence.

Колко стола в стаята? → Колко стола има в стаята?

Use 'Колко струва' as a fixed phrase.

Колко е цената? → Колко струва?

Use 'Колко е' + Adjective.

Колко голям! → Колко е голям!

Aussprache

/ˈkɔlko/

Stress

The stress is on the first syllable: KOL-ko.

Question

Колко ябълки? ↑

Rising intonation at the end for questions.

Einprägen

Eselsbrücke

Think of 'Колко' as 'COL-lect' (to collect items). You collect items, so you ask 'Колко' to count them.

Visuelle Assoziation

Imagine a giant question mark made of apples. Every time you see an apple, you ask 'Колко?'.

Rhyme

Колко, колко, кажи ми ти, колко ябълки имаш ти?

Story

Ivan goes to the market. He sees a pile of oranges. He asks the seller 'Колко?'. The seller says 'Пет'. Ivan is happy and buys them.

Word Web

Колкоимаструвавремегодинипъти

Herausforderung

Count 5 items in your room and ask 'Колко [item] има?' for each.

Kulturelle Hinweise

Asking 'Колко?' is very direct and expected at markets. It is not considered rude.

Derived from Proto-Slavic *kolikъ.

Gesprächseinstiege

“

Колко е часът?

“

Колко струва това?

“

Колко хора има в България?

“

Колко е важно да се учи език?

Tagebuch-Impulse

List 5 things in your room and ask how many there are.
Describe a market visit using 'Колко'.
Write about your daily schedule using 'Колко'.
Discuss the importance of language learning.
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Test Yourself

Fill in the blank.

Колко ___ имаш?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: книги
Must be plural.
Choose the correct sentence. Multiple Choice

Which is correct?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Колко стола има?
Standard existential structure.
Fix the error. Error Correction

Find and fix the mistake:

Колко ябълка струва?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Колко струват ябълки?
Price is usually singular.
Reorder the words. Sentence Reorder

Arrange the words in the correct order:

All words placed

Click words above to build the sentence

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Колко стола има в стаята?
Correct word order.
Translate to Bulgarian. Übersetzung

How many apples?

Answer starts with: Кол...

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Колко ябълки?
Direct translation.
Choose the correct degree question. Multiple Choice

How cold is it?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Колко е студено?
Correct structure for degree.
Fill in the blank.

На ___ години си?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: колко
Used for age.
Build a sentence. Sentence Building

Ask how much the coffee costs.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Колко струва кафето?
Standard price question.

Score: /8

Ubungsaufgaben

8 exercises
Fill in the blank.

Колко ___ имаш?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: книги
Must be plural.
Choose the correct sentence. Multiple Choice

Which is correct?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Колко стола има?
Standard existential structure.
Fix the error. Error Correction

Find and fix the mistake:

Колко ябълка струва?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Колко струват ябълки?
Price is usually singular.
Reorder the words. Sentence Reorder

има / Колко / стаята / в / стола

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Колко стола има в стаята?
Correct word order.
Translate to Bulgarian. Übersetzung

How many apples?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Колко ябълки?
Direct translation.
Choose the correct degree question. Multiple Choice

How cold is it?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Колко е студено?
Correct structure for degree.
Fill in the blank.

На ___ години си?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: колко
Used for age.
Build a sentence. Sentence Building

Ask how much the coffee costs.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Колко струва кафето?
Standard price question.

Score: /8

FAQ (8)

No, 'Колко' is invariant.

Yes, always use the plural form after 'Колко'.

Yes, 'Колко лева?' is standard.

No, it's standard in markets.

You must learn the plural forms of nouns.

Yes, 'Колко часа е?' is how you ask the time.

It means 'there is/are', which is needed for existence.

No, 'Колко' is for questions, 'Колкото' for comparisons.

Scaffolded Practice

1

1

2

2

3

3

4

4

Mastery Progress

Needs Practice

Improving

Strong

Mastered

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In Other Languages

Spanish high

Cuántos/as

Bulgarian 'Колко' does not change for gender.

French moderate

Combien de

No preposition needed in Bulgarian.

German moderate

Wie viele

German is two words.

Japanese low

Ikutsu

Bulgarian uses one word for all counters.

Arabic high

Kam

Arabic grammar for numbers is much more complex.

Chinese moderate

Duoshao

Bulgarian uses 'Колко' for everything.

Learning Path

Prerequisites

Previous
Tens (Десетици)
Next
Using Counting Forms (Бройни форми)

Related Grammar Rules

A0

Asking 'How are you?' (Как си/сте?)
A0

Asking 'What is this?' (Какво е това?)
A1

Forming Questions with Verbs
A1

Yes/No Questions with 'Ли'
A1

Wh-Questions (Кой, Какво, Къде)
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