多少钱 duō shǎo qián can be translated literally into: how much, little, money. It means: How much does it cost? In Chinese the word "cost" is dropped.
这 | 本 | 书 | 多 | 少 | 钱 | ? |
zhè | běn | shū | duō | shǎo | qián | _ |
this | origin | book | many | few | money | _ |
this | grammatical: measure word, foundation, original, current, this | book | how many, how much, some | money | ? | |
How much does this book cost? |
这 | 本 | 书 | 一 | 块 | 钱 | 。 |
zhè | běn | shū | yī | kuài | qián | _ |
this | origin | book | one | piece | money | _ |
this | grammatical: measure word, foundation, original, current, this | book | one, same, whole | grammatical measure word: yuan, piece | money | 。 |
This book costs one yuan. |