AB Level 1.3: Age and Numbers

• The system of counting numbers in Thai is quite logical and easy to use once you know the numbers from one to ten. The usual pattern is just to give a numeral followed by a unit to say the number of that unit.
    * สามสิบ (sǎam-sìp ) ➤ "thirty"

• We create the number "thirty" by giving the numeral "three" followed by the unit "tens." This indicates "three tens," or "thirty." We use the same pattern with any sized unit.
    * สามร้อย (sǎam-ráawy) ➤ "three hundreds"
    * สามพัน (sǎam-phan) ➤ "three thousands"
    * สามหมื่น (sǎam-mùuen) ➤ "three ten-thousands"; “thirty thousand”
    * สามแสน (sǎam-sǎaen) ➤ "three hundred-thousands"
    * สามล้าน (sǎam-láan) ➤ "three millions"

• We form complex numbers by stringing together these units, and the "ones" units comes last and doesn't need to be indicated by another word.
    * So we would say "1,234,567" as:
      * หนึ่งล้าน สองแสน สามหมื่น สี่พัน ห้าร้อย หกสิบ เจ็ด

      (nùeng-láan sǎawng-sǎaen sǎam-mùuen sìi-phan hâa-ráawy hòk-sìp-jèt)

• There are just two important irregularities that we need to point out.
    * For "eleven" and other numbers ending in a "one," we use the word เอ็ด (èt) instead of หนึ่ง (nùeng).
    * The other irregularity is that the word we use for "twenty" is yîi-sìp.
    * So "twenty-one" is ยี่สิบเอ็ด (yîi-sìp-èt), not สองสิบหนึ่ง (sǎawng-sìp-nùeng).

Vocabulary & Phrases

• <<คุณอายุเท่าไหร่ (khun aa-yú thâo-rài)<<
    * This phrase is the question "How old are you?"
    * คุณ (khun) means “you.“
    * อายุ (aa-yú) means “age.“
    * เท่าไหร่ (thâo-rài) means “how many/how much?“

• <<อายุ (aa-yú)<<
    * This word means the "age" of living things.
    * We also use it in the expression หมดอายุ (mòt aa-yú), which means "expired," such as when talking about food that is past its expiration date.

• <<แก่ (gàae)<<
    * This is an adjective meaning "old."
    * However, we only use it for living things.
    * The adjective we use to describe "old" inanimate objects is เก่า (gào).

• <<กว่า (gwàa)<<
    * กว่า (gwàa) is an adjective meaning "more than."
    * It teams up with other adjectives to form comparative adjectives we use to describe the difference between two nouns.
    * The pattern is: Noun 1 + adjective + กว่า (gwàa) + noun 2
      * สตีฟสูงกว่าสุภาณี (sà-dtíip sǔung gwàa sù-phaa-nii.)

      ➤ "Steve is taller than Supanee."

  * One more thing you will often hear is the word กว่า (gwàa), which we use with numbers to give rough amounts or estimates.

  * When following a number, it means "a little more than that."
    * For example, if you bought a new camera that cost 11,650 baht, and your friend asks you how much it cost, you can just say หมื่นกว่าบาท (mùuen gwàa bàat).
    * By that, you mean it was a little bit more than ten thousand baht, but not nearly as much as twenty thousand baht.

How to Tell Someone Your Age in Thai

• When telling someone's age in Thai, we usually say the number of years followed by the word for "year," ปี (bpii).
• However, there is a special word for "year" that we use only when giving the age of small children.
    * Instead of ปี (bpii), you would use ขวบ (khùuap).
• There is no set-in-stone rule, but you would normally say the number of ขวบ (khùuap) when giving the age of children up to about twelve years old.
• From about thirteen years and up, you would start to use ปี (bpii) to describe their age.