几位 How Many People in Chinese

中午zhōngwǔ，我wǒ和hé两liǎng个gè朋友péngyou去qù饭馆fànguǎn吃饭chīfàn。

At noon, my two friends and I went to a restaurant to eat.

服务员fúwùyuán在zài门口ménkǒu问wèn我们wǒmen：“你们nǐmen几jǐ位wèi？”

The waiter asked us at the door: "How many of you?"

我wǒ说shuō：“我们wǒmen三sān位wèi。”

I said: "Three of us."

朋友péngyou问wèn我wǒ：“为什么wèishénme不bù说shuō三sān个gè人rén？”

My friend asked me: "Why not say 'three people'?"

我wǒ告诉gàosu他tā：“问wèn人rén的时候de shíhou，位wèi比bǐ个gè更gèng客气kèqi。”

I told him: "When asking about people, wèi is more polite than gè."

服务员fúwùyuán带dài我们wǒmen坐下zuòxià，给gěi我们wǒmen菜单càidān。

The waiter led us to sit down and gave us menus.

🔊 Audio uses your device's Chinese voice for now — teacher recordings are coming. Tap any word to see its meaning.

Key words 生词

位wèi(polite measure word for people)

客气kèqipolite

服务员fúwùyuánwaiter; waitress

门口ménkǒudoorway; entrance

菜单càidānmenu

坐下zuòxiàto sit down

几位？（How many people?）

Waiters and staff use 几位 to politely ask how many people are in a group.

你们几位？— How many of you?

位（polite measure word for people）

位 is used to count people politely, especially by service staff, while 个 is the plain, everyday measure word.

我们三位。— Three of us.

比 + 更（more ... than ...）

比 compares two things, and 更 adds emphasis to the difference.

位比个更客气。— Wèi is more polite than gè.

1. What does the waiter ask when the group arrives?

2. Why does the narrator's friend ask a question?

3. According to the narrator, which word is more polite when asking about people?

After this reading

I'm Fei, and I teach Mandarin one-on-one on Preply. Bring this text to a trial lesson — we'll fix your tones and turn it into a real conversation.