Two Usages of 几 (jǐ)

In this blog we are going to talk about two usages of 几 (jǐ).  

First of all,  几 (jǐ) can be used as a question word to ask about quantity with measure words. The structure is  Subject + Verb + 几 + MW + Noun？ For example,

• 你每天工作几个小时？Nǐ měitiān gōngzuò jǐ gè xiǎoshí? How many hours do you work each day?
• 你买了几个苹果 ？Nǐ mǎile jǐ gè píngguǒ? How many apples did you buy?

In addition, 几 (jǐ) also means "several", "a couple" or "a few". It's an uncertain number that is at least more than one, but less than ten. The simplest way to use 几 (jǐ) is to use it directly with a measure word. The structure is 几 + Measure Word + Noun.   It means "a few", less than ten or so, things. For example,

• 我去过中国几次。Wǒ qùguò zhōngguó jǐ cì I have been to China several times.
• 一个面包只要几块钱。Yīgè miànbāo zhǐyào jǐ kuài qián. A loaf of bread  only costs a few kuai.
• 桌子上有几十本书。Zhuōzi shàng yǒu jǐ shí běn shū. There are a few dozen books on the table. (Note that similar to how in English we can say "a few dozen" or "a couple dozen", though in this case instead of "twelves of something" we are saying "tens of something". We use the structure 几 + 十 + Measure Word + Noun. "Dozens" is the closest we can get in natural English to the Chinese, which literally means "tens.")    
• 妈妈上个星期给了我几百块钱。Māmā shàng gè xīngqí gěile wǒ jǐ bǎi kuài qián. Last week Mother gave me a couple hundred dollars. (Note that in Chinese we can put 几 (jǐ) together with 百 (bǎi), 千 (qiān), or 万 (wàn), just like how in English we might say "a few hundred" or a "few thousand". The structure is 几 + 百/千/万 + Measure Word + Noun.  

Please ask questions about the underlined parts.

1) 我的弟弟四岁。

2) 今天星期二。

3）今天五月五号。

4）现在两点了。

5）冰箱里有三瓶可乐。 

Please rearrange the words given and make sentences:

1. 从...到...     上海     需要    东京     几个    只    小时 (Going from Shanghai to Tokyo only takes a few hours.)
2. 我   几杯      每天    都    咖啡      要      喝       (Every day I need to drink a few cups of coffee.).
3. 从...到...    坐火车     上海    西藏      需要      几    小时    十    个 (Going from Shanghai to Tibet, riding a train takes dozens of hours.)
4. 我      学   汉字    十    几    个     了   了   已经   (I've already studied a few dozen Chinese characters.)
5. 这   几    本       书     字     有     个    万     (This books has tens of thousands of characters.)
6. 你   中国人   认识    个       几   (How many Chinese people do you know?)
7. 你  几   啤酒 喝    了   瓶 (How many bottles of beer did you drink?)

Reference:
http://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Measure_words_in_quantity_questions
http://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Using_%22ji%22_to_mean_%22several%22