几

Use 几 (jǐ) to ask "how many" when you expect the quantity to be small, usually under 10. This is the key difference from 多少 (duōshao), which is used for larger quantities or when the amount is uncertain.

几 is very common when asking a child's age, the number of objects, what time it is, or what day of the week it is. It makes questions sound more natural and conversational.