how much

how many; several; a few

a picture of 几 → a small table

The character originally depicted a low, legged table. It was borrowed for its sound to ask 'how many?' — the kind of question you might ask about items on a table.

丿+

你家有口人?

nǐ jiā yǒu jǐ kǒu rén?

How many people are in your family?

桌子上有本书,你可以借走。

zhuō zi shàng yǒu jǐ běn shū,nǐ kě yǐ jiè zǒu。

There are a few books on the table; you can borrow them.

Words with 几

这几天

zhè jǐ tiān

the past few days

里瓦几亚条约

lǐ wǎ jī yà tiáo yuē

Treaty of Livadia (1879) between Russia and China, relating to territory in Chinese Turkistan, renegotiated in 1881 (Treaty of St. Petersburg)

双曲几何

shuāng qū jǐ hé

hyperbolic geometry

香几

xiāng jī

a small table to accommodate an incense burner

黎曼几何

lí màn jǐ hé

(math.) Riemannian geometry

黎曼几何学

lí màn jǐ hé xué

Riemannian geometry

一蹴可几

yī cù kě jī

to succeed at the first try (idiom)

不拉几

bù lā jī

(dialect) extremely

不知凡几

bù zhī fán jǐ

one can't tell how many

代数几何

dài shù jǐ hé

algebraic geometry

代数几何学

dài shù jǐ hé xué

algebraic geometry

内在几何

nèi zài jǐ hé

intrinsic geometry

More characters with 丿