เท่าไหร่

How Much

Level 1

เท่าไหร่ (thâo-rài) is the standard way to ask 'How much?' in Thai. It is used for prices, measurements (age, weight, height), and general totals.

How It Works

1. Asking About Prices
You can point at an item and ask เท่าไหร่, or ask ราคาเท่าไหร่ ('What is the price?'). The example ส้มกิโลละเท่าไหร่ asks the price per kilo of oranges.

2. Asking About Measurements
Useful questions include:

  • อายุเท่าไหร่ ('How old?')
  • หนักเท่าไหร่ ('How heavy?')
  • สูงเท่าไหร่ ('How tall?')

These questions ask for an amount without naming a unit after เท่าไหร่. To ask for a number of specified units, use กี่ before the unit: กี่บาท asks 'How many baht?', and กี่กิโล asks 'How many kilos?'.

3. Two Spellings and Their Tones
You may encounter เท่าไหร่ (falling tone on the first syllable and low tone on the second) and เท่าไร (falling tone on the first syllable and mid tone on the second). Both ask about an amount; the two spellings represent these different second-syllable tones.

4. In Negative Statements
เท่าไหร่ also occurs in negative statements to mean 'not so much' or 'not very': ไม่แพงเท่าไหร่ means 'not that expensive'. In this use, ไม่ (mâi) negates the description; the sentence does not ask an amount question.

Examples (5)

  1. อันนี้เท่าไหร่ครับ

    How much is this one? (male speaker)

    Word by Word: this one / how much / [polite particle]

    A standard shopping phrase. 'อันนี้' (this one) is followed by the question word.

  2. คุณอายุเท่าไหร่คะ

    How old are you? (female speaker)

    Word by Word: you / age / how much / [polite question particle]

    Used to ask for age. Note that 'อายุ' (age) comes before 'เท่าไหร่'.

  3. ส้มกิโลละเท่าไหร่

    How much is a kilo of oranges?

    Word by Word: orange / kilo / per / how much

    Used to ask for the price per unit of measurement.

  4. ราคาเท่าไหร่

    What is the price?

    Word by Word: price / how much

    A direct way to ask for the price of an item.

  5. ไม่ค่อยหิวเท่าไหร่

    I'm not really that hungry.

    Word by Word: not / really / hungry / how much

    Here, it functions as a degree modifier meaning 'not so much' in a negative sentence.

Common Mistakes

  • Merging the two basic price-question patterns.

    ราคาเท่าไหร่บาท
    ราคาเท่าไหร่ หรือ กี่บาท

    For the basic price question taught here, use ราคาเท่าไหร่ ('What is the price?') or กี่บาท ('How many baht?'). Do not combine these two patterns into ราคาเท่าไหร่บาท.

  • Using a yes/no question particle with 'thâo-rài'.

    อันนี้เท่าไหร่ไหม
    อันนี้เท่าไหร่

    To ask the item's price directly, use อันนี้เท่าไหร่. Do not add ไหม to turn this same amount question into อันนี้เท่าไหร่ไหม: ไหม asks for a yes/no answer, whereas this question asks for a price.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

เท่าไหร่Level 1How Much

Learn This First

To use 'เท่าไหร่' (How much), you need to understand the basic mechanics of the Thai script and tone marks for pronunciation. Most importantly, you must understand that Thai question words do not move to the front of the sentence but stay in the position of the answer they are seeking.

Words in This Pattern

เท่าไหร่