Stopping at a house for sale today, the woman said that it had been sold already. I wanted to say, "out of interest, how much was it", but realized I didn't know how to say it. Anyone?

Hopefully this link of Google translate will work:

http://bit.ly/10d3qBK

อยากรู้ขายเท่าไหร่

that google translation above is crap,

dok bia is interest on a bank account.

It's only the 'out of interest' bit I'm looking for.

I think อยากรู้ , as suggested, is a good translation for out of interest.

According to t-l.com and others, อยากรู้อยากเห็น means to be curious (http://thai-language.com/id/201671). If it will be understood by Thais as "I'm curious to know," I'd say that's pretty close to what you mean. But that's a big if.

You can't say อยากรู้อยากเห็น in this contex.

In a polite way, I would have just asked ไม่ทราบว่าขายไปเท่าไหร่ครับ

note that the word ทราบ is pronounced as sab and not trab

Edited May 6, 201313 yr by Mole

Mole, it implies that the woman may not know the price. A bit weird if she is the owner...

For "out of interest" I would say แค่อยากรู้อย่างเดีว (I just want to know only).

I like the Mole's ไม่ทราบว่า
It hits a similar note as the English phrase.

No it does not. You obviously do not understand the phrase ไม่ทราบว่า at all.

แค่อยากรู้อย่างเดียว will sound very goofy and no Thai would have said it.

Mole, it implies that the woman may not know the price. A bit weird if she is the owner...

For "out of interest" I would say แค่อยากรู้อย่างเดีว (I just want to know only).

No it does not. You obviously do not understand the phrase ไม่ทราบว่า at all.

So, would you care to explain? Why the negative form if you don't imply a possible negative answer?

แค่อยากรู้อย่างเดียว will sound very goofy and no Thai would have said it.

Well, just Google it and you will be surprised.

I wouldn't be trying to get too literal with the 'out of interest' or 'I just wanted to know' line in this instance.

A better way to politely ask a Thai would be to say 'are you able to tell me ..... '

I tried and I could find only song lyrics....

Trust me (I'm a native Thai), it's goofy if you said it in a setting like that.

My "negativity" is that all of a sudden, you said my phrase implied the seller didn't know, and it becomes obvious that you don't know the meaning of it.

Perhaps if you tried google ไม่ทราบว่า and in the 4th entry, you'll find some clues in English even....

Edited May 6, 201313 yr by Mole

My "negativity" is that all of a sudden, you said my phrase implied the seller didn't know, and it becomes obvious that you don't know the meaning of it.

Yes indeed, my mistake, it's because I inderstood it as "คุณไม่ทราบว่า", like in English "would you know" whereas it is obviously "I don't know", or rather "I'm wondering". Right?

What about แค่อยากรู้ or อยากรู้อย่างเดีว ? Would it sound goofy as well? In other words is it the redundancy that makes it sound goofy?

It's only the 'out of interest' bit I'm looking for.

สนใจรู้

ไม่ทราบว่า always implies me and never you or other people.

You also hit the nail there. It is really redundant to to state "I'd like to know" or "out of curiousity".

In polite settings, we use ไม่ทราบว่า then the question in mind.

Casually, there is really no need to say "I'd like to know" or "out of curiousity". One simply just asks the question.

Also, adding a เหรอ at the end will also "soften" the question a bit.

Such as คุณขายไปเท่าไหร่เหรอครับ will make it sound more as an "out of curiosity" rather the more demanding คุณขายไปเท่าไหร่ครับ

But if you already use ไม่ทราบว่า then there's no need to add เหรอ at the end.

Also, no, not สนใจรู้

also, no not แค่อยากรู้ or อยากรู้อย่างเดียว

Yes indeed, my mistake, it's because I inderstood it as "คุณไม่ทราบว่า", like in English "would you know" whereas it is obviously "I don't know", or rather "I'm wondering". Right?

What about แค่อยากรู้ or อยากรู้อย่างเดีว ? Would it sound goofy as well? In other words is it the redundancy that makes it sound goofy?

Edited May 6, 201313 yr by Mole

Mole's answer is the best...

Why "สนใจรู้ " is not good ? the OP means: " by curiosity, I would like to know " ; ความสนใจ implies to be interested to know , to be curious to know

thai people understand it very well , it's good thai language ; don't be too complicate, just simple

So in this case, exactly how would you build a question with สนใจรู้ then??

Sure, สนใจรู้ means out of curiously, but there's just no way you can use this in a working question.

Edited May 6, 201313 yr by Mole

So in this case, exactly how would you build a question with สนใจรู้ then??

Sure, สนใจรู้ means out of curiously, but there's just no way you can use this in a working question.

Mole, thanks for your input, always better when a native speaker answers.

The OP neds to go back and think his original question. "out of interest" is that the same as, as a matter of interset, just as a matter of interest? I assume in Thai its all the same.

The OP then states,

It's only the 'out of interest' bit I'm looking for.

He doesnt make reference to having a conversation, he asks clearly, its only the, out of interest, he is looking for.

I agree most spoken Thai I have heard wouldnt even use this phrase.

He makes no reference to asking a question.

(ผม)สนใจรู้ขายบ้านเท่าไหร่รู้ไม่ is how I would probably word it. I am interested to know how much the house was sold for, do you know?

The spoken Thai I hear in Bkk would be, ขายบ้านเท่าไหร่, straight to the point, how much was the house sold for.

สนใจสั่งซื้อติดต่อ xxx xxx xxxx, is what I hear on the radio hence my use of สนใจ for interested.

Keep posting, love the input.

(ผม)สนใจรู้ขายบ้านเท่าไหร่รู้ไม่
This sentence just doesn't make sense in Thai.

I know he was asking for the "out of interest" part and I'm telling you that there is no such thing in Thai. Well, there is, but it is not used when asking questions.

Merely asking the question would already imply that you are asking out of curiosity and it is redundant to explicitly state that.

In fact, the closest thing it comes to the meaning of "out of interest" as in "I'd just like to casually know" is what I told earlier "ไม่ทราบว่า" or the usage of เหรอ to make the question not sound so commanding.

Edited May 6, 201313 yr by Mole

(ผม)สนใจรู้ขายบ้านเท่าไหร่รู้ไม่

This sentence just doesn't make sense in Thai.

I know he was asking for the "out of interest" part and I'm telling you that there is no such thing in Thai. Well, there is, but it is not used when asking questions.

Merely asking the question would already imply that you are asking out of curiosity and it is redundant to explicitly state that.

In fact, the closest thing it comes to the meaning of "out of interest" as in "I'd just like to casually know" is what I told earlier "ไม่ทราบว่า" or the usage of เหรอ to make the question not sound so commanding.

Thanks all - I like the above - "ไม่ทราบว่า" or the usage of เหรอ

So in this case, exactly how would you build a question with สนใจรู้ then??

Sure, สนใจรู้ means out of curiously, but there's just no way you can use this in a working question.

I have asked thai people, and they say: ผมสนไจรุ่คุณขายบ้านนี้ราคาเท่าไร is correct but we can also say "คุณขายบ้านราคา เท่าไหร่" , "ไม่ทราบว่าคุณขายบ้านนี้ราคาเท่าไร", or "อยากรุ่คุณขายบ้านนี้ราคาเท่าไร"

are you thai or thai language native ? Why do you think "there's just no way you can use this in a working question."

Yes I am a native Thai, I've already told this in an earlier post.

You can say ผมสนใจรู้คุณขายบ้านนี้เท่าไหร่ but it's just goofy and no Thai would have said ผมสนใจรู้

ผมอยากรู้ would probably be used more, but I wouldn't have used it because it would sound really demanding.

It would be like adding "I want to know" or "I need to know" in English. That's like the opposite of what OP wanted.

Why I think so? Because that's just the way it is... You can put it in a question and it will be weird no matter what.

If you google "ผมสนใจรู้" you'll get 24 results and half of that is actually the phrase "ผมสนใจรูเกอร์"

Look man, I don't really understand why you are trying to argue that your phrase is correct when you're obviously not a native Thai and can't even write Thai properly.

Could you say in this situation:

ขายไปเท่าไหร่ครับ อย่ากรู้เฉยๆ

or

ถามได้ไหมครับ ขายไปเท่าไหร่

Thanks a lot for your advice Mole. I have never used ไม่ทราบว่า but I hear Thai people using it very often in a similar context. I should use it too.

There's still a big difference in understanding Thai and knowing the most appropriate word usage for a specific context. In other words, we have to realize we as language students know very little compared to a native speaker and your advice is most welcome.

Edited May 7, 201313 yr by kriswillems

ขอถามได้ไหมครับว่าขายไปเท่าไหร่ would probably be OK too.

Could you say in this situation:

ขายไปเท่าไหร่ครับ อย่ากรู้เฉยๆ

or

ถามได้ไหมครับ ขายไปเท่าไหร่

Thanks a lot for your advice Mole. I have never used ไม่ทราบว่า but I hear Thai people using it very often in a similar context. I should use it too.

There's still a big difference in understanding Thai and knowing the most appropriate word usage for a specific context. In other words, we have to realize we as language students know very little compared to a native speaker and your advice is most welcome.

Indeed Kris, the more we learn the more we realise just how little we know.

Theres more to it than translating English into Thai and rabbiting on.

ไม่ทราบว่า have heard it used, what about ไม่รู้ว่า, isnt the former a more polite version of the latter?

Thanks to Mole for taking the time and effort and sharing it with us.

ไม่ทราบว่า is a special term and it's not a polite version of ไม่รู้ว่า

You can't use ไม่รู้ว่า in questions like this either.

ไม่รู้ว่าขายไปเท่าไหร่ครับ just isn't correct Thai

I don't think you can even use ไม่รู้ว่า in a question sentence.

It means equivalent to English "I don't know".
Try to make a question from it and you'll see it doesn't work in English either.

I have never heard ไม่รู้ว่า in this context, but I hear ไม่ทราบว่า often.

I think ไม่รู้ว่า literally means "I don't know" and it's not really used in an implicit question, while ไม่ทราบว่า can be used to start an implicit question.

Edit: ok, Mole was faster than me

Edited May 8, 201313 yr by kriswillems

"Look man, I don't really understand why you are trying to argue that your phrase is correct when you're obviously not a native Thai and can't even write Thai properly."

ok, ok, I just try to understand , don't worry , I leave you alone , I speak with non educated thai people, that's why I am wrong .

Edited May 8, 201313 yr by Aforek