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AB Level 1.3: Age and Numbers

Thai Numeral

Thai

Romanization

"English"

ศูนย์

sǔun

"zero"

หนึ่ง

nùeng

"one"

สอง

sǎawng

"two"

สาม

sǎam

"three"

สี่

sìi

"four"

ห้า

hâa

"five"

หก

hòk

"six"

เจ็ด

jèt

"seven"

แปด

bpàaet

"eight"

เก้า

gâao

"nine"

๑๐

สิบ

sìp

"ten"

  • 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.

MA

AB Level 1.3: Age and Numbers

Thai Numeral

Thai

Romanization

"English"

ศูนย์

sǔun

"zero"

หนึ่ง

nùeng

"one"

สอง

sǎawng

"two"

สาม

sǎam

"three"

สี่

sìi

"four"

ห้า

hâa

"five"

หก

hòk

"six"

เจ็ด

jèt

"seven"

แปด

bpàaet

"eight"

เก้า

gâao

"nine"

๑๐

สิบ

sìp

"ten"

  • 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.

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