Word
คุณ ต้องการ ปูน กี่ กระสอบ คะ
Meaning
How many sacks of cement do you want?
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of คุณ ต้องการ ปูน กี่ กระสอบ คะ
คุณ
you
คะ
female question particle / polite particle (female)
กี่
how many
ต้องการ
to want (formal, to need)
Questions & Answers about คุณ ต้องการ ปูน กี่ กระสอบ คะ
Why do we use กี่ (how many) here instead of เท่าไร (how much), since cement is an uncountable powder?
Even though cement (ปูน) is uncountable, the speaker is asking for a specific number of sacks (กระสอบ). Because sacks can be counted one by one, Thai uses กี่ followed by the classifier, rather than asking 'how much' with เท่าไร.
Why are the words for 'how many sacks' at the very end of the sentence instead of at the beginning?
In Thai, question words usually stay in the exact spot where the answer will go. An answer would look like 'want cement 5 sacks' (ต้องการ ปูน 5 กระสอบ). Therefore, the question replaces the number with กี่ to make 'want cement how many sacks'.
Could I use อยาก instead of ต้องการ to say 'want' in this sentence?
No, because อยาก must be followed by a verb (like 'want TO BUY cement'). When you want a physical noun (like the cement itself), you must use ต้องการ (more formal, implies needing) or เอา (more casual, 'to take/want').
Is กระสอบ (sack) a regular noun or a classifier in this sentence?
It is acting as a classifier here. In Thai, words for containers (like sacks, boxes, bottles, or cups) often act as their own classifiers. The pattern for asking amounts is always กี่ + [classifier], making กี่ กระสอบ translate perfectly to 'how many sacks'.