いくつ・なん〜

## What it means Both いくつ and なん+counter ask "how many." いくつ is the general, all-purpose version, useful when you don't need a specific counter. なん attaches to a specific counter to ask about that exact type of thing, like なんまい (how many flat things) or なんだい (how many machines).

## When to use it いくつ can stand on its own in a sentence, replacing the whole "number + counter" phrase, and it's also used to casually ask a child's age. なん combines directly with a counter: なん+人 becomes なんにん, なん+枚 becomes なんまい, なん+台 becomes なんだい, なん+冊 becomes なんさつ.

## Don't confuse it with いくつ (how many, or how old) looks similar to いくら (how much money), but they ask completely different questions. いくつ is about a count, いくら is about a price.