Breakdown of คุณ เอา ชาม กี่ ใบ คะ
คุณ
you
เอา
to want / to take (along)
คะ
female question particle / polite particle (female)
กี่
how many
ใบ
classifier for bags and glasses / classifier for hats and helmets / classifier for certificates and degrees
ชาม
bowl
Questions & Answers about คุณ เอา ชาม กี่ ใบ คะ
Why do we use ใบ near the end of the question?
ใบ is the specific noun classifier for containers, such as bowls (ชาม), cups, glasses, and plates. It is also used for flat objects like tickets or leaves. In Thai, whenever you ask 'how many' of an item, you must include its specific classifier at the end of the phrase.
Why does the word for 'how many' (กี่) come after the word for 'bowl' (ชาม)?
In English, we put 'how many' before the noun ('how many bowls'). In Thai, the strict grammar rule for asking 'how many' is: Noun + กี่ + Classifier. Here, that gives us ชาม กี่ ใบ, which literally translates to 'bowl how many [container-classifier]'.
I learned that อยาก means 'to want'. Can I use it instead of เอา here?
Not in this sentence. เอา is used when you want to receive or take a physical object, like a bowl. อยาก is only used when you want to do an action, like wanting to eat or wanting to sleep.
How would I change this sentence to ask 'how many books do you want?'
The sentence structure stays exactly the same, but you need to change both the noun and the classifier! You would replace ชาม with the word for book (หนังสือ) and replace the container classifier ใบ with the bound-volume classifier เล่ม. The result would be: คุณ เอา หนังสือ กี่ เล่ม คะ.
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