ಎಷ್ಟು
eṣṭu/eʂʈu/
The Kannada phrase for "how much" is ಎಷ್ಟು (eṣṭu).
ಎಷ್ಟು is used to ask about the cost or price of an item. In a market setting, simply saying ಎಷ್ಟು? is a common and natural way to ask how much something costs.
Meaning: what is the cost/price? (det)
How does it change in a sentence?
The word ಎಷ್ಟು is versatile and can be used for both countable and uncountable quantities, meaning it functions as both "how many" and "how much".
How do you pronounce it?
The romanization is eṣṭu.
Did you know?
- Because Kannada is an agglutinative language, you can attach suffixes to ಎಷ್ಟು to ask 'how much more' or 'how much less' without needing entirely new words.
- If a vendor responds with a price that is ಅತಿ (excessive), a shopper might use ಎಷ್ಟು in a rhetorical or sarcastic tone to imply the price is ridiculously high.
- The word ಎಷ್ಟು originates from the Proto-Dravidian prefix *yĀ-, which originally meant 'which'.
Examples in context
- ಇದರ ಬೆಲೆ ಎಷ್ಟು?idara bele eṣṭu?
- ಈ ಹಣ್ಣು ಎಷ್ಟು?Ee hannu eshtu?How much is this fruit?
- ಒಂದು ಕೆಜಿ ಬಾಳೆಹಣ್ಣು ಎಷ್ಟು?Ondu kg baalehannu eshtu?How much is one kg of bananas?
- ಈ ಪುಸ್ತಕದ ಬೆಲೆ ಎಷ್ಟು?Ee pustakada bele eshtu?How much is the price of this book?
Example conversation
Abhishek is buying flowers from Kavya at a market.
- ಅಭಿಷೇಕ್ Abhishekಈ ಹೂವು ಎಷ್ಟು?Ee hoovu eshtu?How much is this flower?
- ಕಾವ್ಯ Kavyaಇದು ಇಪ್ಪತ್ತು ರೂಪಾಯಿ.Idu ippattu roopayi.It is twenty rupees.
- ಅಭಿಷೇಕ್ Abhishekಬೆಲೆ ತುಂಬಾ ಹೆಚ್ಚು.Bele thumba hechhu.The price is very high.
- ಕಾವ್ಯ Kavyaನಾನು ಕಡಿಮೆ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಡುತ್ತೇನೆ.Naanu kadime maadikoduttene.I will give it to you for less.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry ಎಷ್ಟು, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ಎಷ್ಟು, CC BY-SA 4.0.
