When to use it
Use it at a Hyderabad metro station to ask the fare.
“How much does this metro ticket cost?” · The sentence in English
In “How much does this metro ticket cost?” ‘cost’ is a verb, so the question needs ‘does’.
- How
- adverbquestion word asking about the way or manner
- much
- adverb"how much" asks about price or quantity
- does
- auxiliary verbdo · tense: present · person: third · number: singular · auxiliary that makes the question
- this
- determinerdemonstrative determiner
- metro
- nounnoun; it says what kind of ticket
- ticket
- nounnoun
- cost
- verbcost · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · after "does" the verb stays in its base form
“ఈ మెట్రో టికెట్ ధర ఎంత?” · The sentence in Telugu
In “ఈ మెట్రో టికెట్ ధర ఎంత?” there is no verb at all: ‘ధర ఎంత?’ (price how much?) is enough. ‘ఈ’ (this) precedes the noun, as in English.
- ఈ
- determiner'this', before the noun
- మెట్రో
- noun'metro'
- టికెట్
- noun'ticket'
- ధర
- noun'price'
- ఎంత
- adjective'how much'; a question with no verb
What changes from one language to the other · English × Telugu
English needs two verbs, ‘does’ and ‘cost’; Telugu needs none, just the noun ‘ధర’ (price).
Example conversation
— ఈ మెట్రో టికెట్ ధర ఎంత?
— How much does this metro ticket cost?
— దూరాన్ని బట్టి ఉంటుంది.
— It depends on the distance.