So I am getting to something here the concept is still somewhat hazy in my mind. I just wish you to comment on it.
The pattern is:
人
何人 how many men??
何人か some number of men
何人も a lot of men/ no men at all (depending on end of sentence)
枚
何枚 how many sheets??
何枚か some number of sheets
何枚も a lot of sheets/ no sheets at all (depending on end of sentence)
...
this continues with other counters.
and also:
いくつ how many (small items)?
いくつか a number of things
いくつも a lot of sheets/ no sheets at all (depending on end of sentence)
いくら how much money
いくらか some number of small items
いくらも a lot/ none at all, amount of money (depending on end of sentence)
I hope my summarization of knowledge gained is without flaw. What is this phenomenon called? Have I made any mistake in deriving my conclusion? Is there something I have missed? It appears to work with all counters. Why are いくつ いくら and the rest not covered together with the chapter on counters anyway?
JimmySeal
Member
From: Kyoto
Registered: 2006-03-28
Posts: 2240
I'm not so sure about 何[counter]も being used to mean "no [counter] at all". I think people do use it that way, but I'm not sure that's something I've heard very much. Did you see it somewhere?
matrixofdynamism wrote:
Why are いくつ いくら and the rest not covered together with the chapter on counters anyway?
And what chapter would that be?
Last edited by JimmySeal (2012 July 30, 12:02 am)
Sorry what I meant is a typical chapter on counters that explains counting long slender object, round objects e.t.c
They explain 1 pencil, 2 pencils, 3 pencils ... 1 page, 2 pages, 3 pages ...
but this aspect of usage of 何、か and も is not explained. This is my experience.
So this is true after all. Could you kindly explain why 何、か and も work this way with counters? ....? 
<<<
いくつ used to ask for "how many X" where X is counted using the ひとつ、ふたつ、。。。counter. Which counter is いくら used to inquire about?? <<<
I am sure this question is one of the very interesting ones.
yudantaiteki
Member
From: 東京
Registered: 2009-10-03
Posts: 3015
JimmySeal wrote:
I'm not so sure about 何[counter]も being used to mean "no [counter] at all". I think people do use it that way, but I'm not sure that's something I've heard very much. Did you see it somewhere?
Now that I look at this again, I think you're right -- 何人もいない should mean "There aren't a lot of people here"; if you want to say "no people" it should be 一人もいない.
matrix:
Could you kindly explain why 何、か and も work this way with counters?
"Why" questions about grammar are rarely useful. You have to get into historical linguistics and it's not very helpful in remembering for most people.
Last edited by yudantaiteki (2012 July 30, 3:45 am)
