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The writer is complaining that men are useless at cooking. They burn pans,
they make more mess than is necessary and:

> ...、何枚も皿をつかう、...

I can't fully understand this construction. I know the essence is that men use
too many plates but that's all I can understand.

In particular I don't know what も is doing. I'm not sure if this is a
question, a rhetorical question or a statement. Nor am I sure of the
intonation (i.e. rising at the end or not).

In English we might say "and how many plates do they use". Depending on the
intonation this could be a plain question or a rhetorical question where we
simply mean that they use too many plates. I'm guessing the Japanese is this
latter usage but I have no idea.
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2016-07-05T16:10:38.443
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2016-07-05T20:01:34.193
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question
grammar counters particle-も intonation
Use of も with counter
This 「も」 expresses the speaker's surprise or exclamation about the (large)
quantity or (high) frequency that is being discussed. It is used when the
quantity or frequency **_exceeds_** one's expectations.

> 「[何]{なん} + Counter + も」 = " ** _so_** many (noun)"
>
> 「Actual Number + Counter + も」 = "(number) + (noun) + to one's surprise"

「[何枚]{なんまい}も[皿]{さら}をつかう」, therefore, means:

> "(men) use **_so_** many plates (than you would expect) while cooking"

This is an exclamatory statement, and not a question or rhetorical question.

As for the pronunciation, you **_do not_** use a rising intonation. **If
anything, we would usually enunciate the 「なん」 part and the actual number part
respectively**.

For reference, see definition #5 in
[デジタル大辞泉](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E3%82%82-644757#E3.83.87.E3.82.B8.E3.82.BF.E3.83.AB.E5.A4.A7.E8.BE.9E.E6.B3.89):
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2016-07-05T16:49:40.873
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answer