Questions & Answers about เหล็ก ตัน ละ เท่าไร ครับ
Why is เท่าไร used here instead of กี่?
You are asking for a price (how much), which is an open amount. เท่าไร is the go-to word for general prices, weights, and uncountable concepts. กี่ means "how many" and expects a specific countable number. If you wanted to use กี่ for a price, you would have to add a specific currency unit, like กี่บาท (how many Baht), but เท่าไร is more natural for asking general rates.
How do we express "per" in this sentence?
The word ละ translates to "per" or "each". The pattern in Thai is always [Unit] + ละ + [Price or Amount]. So ตันละ means "per ton". If you were buying by the kilo instead, you would simply swap the unit to say กิโลละเท่าไร (how much per kilo).
Why is เท่าไร at the very end of the sentence?
In Thai, question words don't move to the front of the sentence like they do in English. Instead, they sit exactly where the answer will go. Since the answer would be something like "Steel is 500 per ton" (เหล็กตันละ 500), the question word เท่าไร just replaces that missing number at the end.
Is ตัน just the English word "ton"?
Yes! ตัน is an English loanword. In Thai grammar, standard international units like tons, kilos, and meters act exactly like traditional Thai classifiers. You place them right before ละ to establish the unit of measurement for the price.