I didn't want to start a new thread for this topic, but here goes... I have a few more questions relating to "question words"... Can some one please explain the difference between / and when to use:

ทำไม – tam mai

ทำไมกัน – tam mai gan

ทำไมถึง – tam mai tĕung

ทำไมล่ะ – tam mai lâ

เพราะอะไร - prór à-rai

เหตุใด - hèt dai

ไฉน - chà-nai

I know they all mean "why" - but I don't know if there is a different "why" for certain situations.

Also, what's the difference between:

กี่ - gèe

กี่มากน้อย - gèe mâak nói

เพียงไร - piang-rai

all meaning "how much?" or "how many?".

I'm finding it very difficult to understand why there are so many question words in Thai... is there a good internet site I can check these on?

Thanks!

some rough explanations:

ทำไม – tam mai - "why" in the direct, simple sense

ทำไมกัน – tam mai gan - "why [must you/they do such a silly/unbelievable/undesirable/____ thing]?"

ทำไมถึง – tam mai tĕung - "why did you/he/she/they ____?"

ทำไมล่ะ – tam mai lâ - "why, [you got a problem with that?]" or "why [the heck] ___?"

เพราะอะไร - prór à-rai - "for what reason?"

เหตุใด - hèt dai - "due to what cause?" (a bit more formal than above, unless meant sarcastically)

ไฉน - chà-nai - "why [oh, why?]"

กี่ - gèe - "how many", straight & simple

กี่มากน้อย - gèe mâak nói - huh?

เพียงไร - piang-rai - "[just] how much/many", asking "to what extent"

some rough explanations:

ทำไม – tam mai - "why" in the direct, simple sense

ทำไมกัน – tam mai gan - "why [must you/they do such a silly/unbelievable/undesirable/____ thing]?"

ทำไมถึง – tam mai tĕung - "why did you/he/she/they ____?"

ทำไมล่ะ – tam mai lâ - "why, [you got a problem with that?]" or "why [the heck] ___?"

เพราะอะไร - prór à-rai - "for what reason?"

เหตุใด - hèt dai - "due to what cause?" (a bit more formal than above, unless meant sarcastically)

ไฉน - chà-nai - "why [oh, why?]"

กี่ - gèe - "how many", straight & simple

กี่มากน้อย - gèe mâak nói - huh?

เพียงไร - piang-rai - "[just] how much/many", asking "to what extent"

I think (please correct me if I'm wrong) กี่ must indicate "how much/many" of something -- Like กี่บาท (how many baht, or how much does it cost) where เท่าไร (how much?) doesn't need to indicate how much of something.

as the previous poster asked reference gee, i was under the impression this would be followed by a classifier, such as, gee baht, gee mong, gee kohn etc.

if my wife told me she had bought a bag, i could reply with taw rai? or gee baht, but i have never heard a question of quantity asked with only gee.

good point to raise clayirving. i think the answer should have been how many of something.

i could of course be wrong, wouldnt be the first time, and we are lucky to have people more knowledgeable than us to correct our mistakes and point us in the right direction.

that's right, กี่ will have a classifier following it. So กี่____ will mean "How many _____?"

and when asking the price of the bag, you could say either ซื้อมาเท่าไหร่ (how much did you buy it for?) or ซื้อมากี่บาท (how many baht did you pay for it?). The former would be more common.

that's right, กี่ will have a classifier following it. So กี่____ will mean "How many _____?"

and when asking the price of the bag, you could say either ซื้อมาเท่าไหร่ (how much did you buy it for?) or ซื้อมากี่บาท (how many baht did you pay for it?). The former would be more common.

Thanks everybody for your input!