Three Step French - Learn #2 - Asking for the Price in French - Grammar
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Let's look at the sentence pattern. This pattern is the structure that all of our examples will follow. Combien coûte ? is an interrogative phrase that means "How much does it cost?" Côte, meaning "cost" or "does cost", it is the third person singular form of the verb coûter "to cost" used for singular objects.

Please note that for plural nouns, could become could to match the plural subject. Next are the demonstrative adjectives se, set, set and se, meaning this, that, this and those. To use this pattern, replace noun with the noun you want to ask about, ensuring agreement in gender and number.

Let's look at the demonstrative adjectives "ce", "cette", "cette" and "c'est". Have you ever wondered why French has four different ways to say "this" or "that"? That's because demonstrative adjectives must match the noun in gender and number. For masculine singular nouns that start with a consonant, "ce" is used like "ce livre" meaning "this book".

Mais si le nom masculin commence avec un "V" ou un "h", "cet" est utilisé comme "cet arbre" ou "cet hôtel". Ce petit changement rend la prononciation plus facile. Pour le nom féminin singulaire, "cet" est toujours utilisé, peu importe si le mot commence avec un consonant ou un verbe.

So it's the "set chaises" for "this chair" and "set écoles" for "this school". And for plural nouns, gender doesn't matter. "C'est" works in all cases. "C'est livre" for "these books" and "c'est maison" for "those houses". Let's see how a line from the dialogue follows this pattern.

Excusez-moi, combien coûte ce tableau ? Excuse me, how much does this painting cost ? In this sentence, excusez-moi means excuse me and isn't a part of the pattern. Next is combien coûte ? meaning how much does it cost ? Followed by ce meaning this which refers to the item being asked about.

In this example, tableau, a masculine singular noun meaning "painting". So the full sentence "Excusez-moi, combien coûte ce tableau?" means "Excuse me, how much does this painting cost?" Now you can use this structure to ask about the price of anything when shopping in France.

"Berguening" is not common in most French shops, especially in chain stores, supermarkets and department stores, where prices are fixed. However, you can negotiate prices in a few places, such as open-air markets, flea markets and antique shops. Now let's look at some speaking examples. Combien coûte cet album?

"How much does this album cost?" Can you see how the pattern applies here? Let's break it down. Combien coûte? means "How much costs?" followed by "Cette" meaning "this". Finally, we have the basculent singular noun "album" meaning "album". Notice that here, "cette" is used instead of "ce" because "album" starts with a vowel.

So that is how "Combien coûte cet album?" follows the "Combien coûte" plus "cette" plus noun pattern. Here's another example: "Combien coûte ce stylo?" "How much does this pen cost?" Let's try one more: "Combien coûtent ces chaussettes?" "How much do these socks cost?"

Combien coûtent ces chaussettes ? "How much do these socks cost ?" Remember, for plural nouns, "coute" changes to "coute" to agree with plural subjects. Another one : Combien coûtent ces robes ? "How much does this dress cost ?" One last example : Combien coûtent ces sacs ?

Combien coûte ce sac ?