From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishhow manyhow manyused to ask or talk about how large a number or quantity is How many sisters do you have? I didn’t know how many tickets to buy. → many
Examples from the Corpus
how many• How many cars do you have?• He wouldn't tell us how many girlfriends he'd had.• It is not known how many of the people arrested in last Saturday's protests have been freed.• How many of you can swim?• He refused to comment on how many other special forces soldiers were involved.• But he never imagined how many people hungered for homes close to central Phoenix.• He deftly explains how many seemingly pleasant private decisions lead to distinctly unpleasant public results, such as increased economic segregation.• At first, nobody could be sure how many there might be.• And no matter how many times you revisit the place, it never gets better.• Now imagine how many we come into contact with every day!• There were people calling radio shows calculating how many wins it would take to reach the playoffs.• When it comes to fashion just how many women do know what they want? 