How can I say "How many more apples does John have than Phil?" in Spanish?

Question

Does the following translation make sense in Spanish? What would be the appropriate translation?

English:

How many more apples does John have than Phil?

Spanish:

¿Cuántos más manzanas tiene John que Phil?

Answer 1

Firstly, "cuánto/cuánta/cuántos/cuántas" is an adjetivo interrogativo which, as all adjectives, must agree with the noun it qualifies — "manzanas", in this case.

Secondly, the adverb "más", if paired with some kind of quantifier, is generally placed after the noun:

¿Cuántas manzanas más necesitas?
Necesito tres manzanas más.

Then I wouldn't separate "más" and "que" because that makes it more difficult to parse.

Summing up, I'd say:

¿Cuántas manzanas más que Phil tiene Ali?

You can also say:

¿Ali tiene cuántas manzanas más que Phil?

The last one sounds clunkier to me, but it could sound natural if pronounced with a different intonation. I would pronounce the first one with a falling intonation, and the last one with a rising intonation (or a "less falling" one), as though I wanted the addressee to complete my sentence.

Of course you could go with a different wording:

¿Cuántas manzanas más tiene Alí con respecto a Phil?

I don't love the last one, but that is personal preference.

Answer 2

Your attempt is correct. You just missed the fact that "manzanas" is feminine, so "cuántos" has to match the gender and be "cuántas":

¿Cuántas más manzanas tiene Ali que Phil?

However, to me it sounds a bit better to swap both terms and say:

¿Cuántas manzanas más tiene Ali que Phil?

Answer 3

In light of the English grammar involved, to make it similar of what a Spanish speaker would say, I'd phrase it as:

¿Cuántas manzanas más tiene Alí que Phil?

So it's perfectly idiomatic.

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Swapping we get another sentence given by fedorqui:

¿Cuántas más manzanas tiene Alí que Phil?

I remember saying this wording once, but now it doesn't click on my ears, so I'd use the first one.

Answer 4

How many more apples does John have than Phil?

In Spanish:

¿Cuántas manzanas de más tiene John que Phil?

Source: myself, Spanish is my native language.