♪How many sheep are there in the flock? – 群れのひつじは何匹？

今日は物の数や量を尋ねる How many と How much について取り上げます。

リスニングレッスン

トランスクリプト

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning in to Time for English.

Some people count sheep when they have trouble sleeping. So, sheep is countable. If you want to know the number of sheep in a flock, how do you ask? You can say: How many sheep are there in the flock? Likewise, how many apples are there in the basket? How many brothers or sisters do you have? How many bottles of wine did you buy for the party?

Now, if you want to ask about the quantity of something that is not countable, such as time, money, energy or water, you can use “how much” instead of “how many”. For example, how much money do you have in your savings account? How much time does it take to walk a mile? How much energy does your smartphone consume in a year?

Perhaps, you want to write your own sentences using “how many ” and “how much” to make sure you know how to use them.

In the meantime, why don’t you try a quiz? I’ll read three sentences. Please listen carefully and choose the one that is NOT correct grammatically. Ready?

1. How many sugar would you like in your coffee?
2. How much water do we need to drink per day?
3. How much wine is there in the bottle?

答えはこちら1

日本語訳

こんにちは。いつもエイゴの時間を聴いてくれてありがとうございます。

眠れないときはひつじを数えます。つまり、ひつじは数えられるわけです。では。群れの中のひつじの数を尋ねるとき、どう尋ねればよいでしょう。How many sheep are there in the flock? です。籠の中のりんごの数は？ How many apples are there in the basket? です。兄弟や姉妹の人数を尋ねるなら？ How many brothers or sisters do you have? です。パーティのために購入したワインの本数を尋ねるときは How many bottles of wine did you buy for the party? となります。

では数えられないものの量を尋ねる場合はどうしましょう。時間とか金銭とかエネルギーとかお水とか。how many の代わりに how much を使います。普通預金口座の残高を尋ねるなら How much money do you have in your savings account? です。1マイル歩くのにどのくらいの時間を要するでしょう？ How much time does it take to walk a mile? あなたのスマホの1年間に消費する電力はどのくらいかしら。 How much energy does your smartphone consume in a year?

皆さんも how many と how much を用いた英文をいくつか作ってみましょう。