How many of you are there originally?
How many of you are there originally?Shouldn’t this be translated more like "How many of you “were” there originally? " Translation doesn’t seem to make sense in American English as it stands. Seems ungrammatical
Hi @mambo_king3275,
I agree, the English translation doesn’t sound right.
If it makes you feel any better, the French sentence sounds just as weird to me as the English translation probably sounds to you…
So what does “à la base” mean?
Well, it’s a tough one, because you will get different answers depending on who you ask.
According to l’Académie française, “à la base (de)” = “à l’origine (de)”, meaning “at the root (of)” and that is, according to them, the only correct way to use this expression.
In the real world, it is sometimes used to mean “initially” or “at first”.
I think this is sort of how it is meant here (so you could just stop here and consider that “à la base” is being used incorrectly).
It sounds so much better, doesn’t it? 
I get what you are saying, but given the French sentence, I’d have to say no.
I would use your translation if the French sentence was in the past.
Maybe you’re talking to a friend about a race/event you took part in and you tell him that only 10 people made it to the finish line. He could then ask:
Vous étiez combien à la base? = How many of you were there originally? (i.e at the start / starting line).
It’s much more difficult for me to find an example where I would use this expression in the present tense.
Maybe you go to work/school one day and half of your classmates/colleagues are missing. You then tell a friend about it:
You: “On n’était que 10 hier au boulot.” – “There were only 10 of us at work yesterday.”
Friend: “Vous êtes combien à la base?” – He is really asking how many of you are supposed to be there, on a normal day.
I think that’s the meaning that is expressed in the French example sentence here.