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VIDEO: Classifiers is Essential to Speak Like a Thai

Thursday April 17, 2014 by Mod 50 Comments

Classifier or unit count (คำลักษณนาม) is essential when you count something in Thai language, so if you would like to speak like a Thai knowing how to use unit count is a must.

The pattern is

noun (something you are counting) + amount + classifier

For example;

two women                       ผู้หญิง 2 คน           pûu-yĭng   2  kon

five bottles of beer         เบียร์ 5 ขวด           beer  5 kùat

four glasses of water      น้ำเปล่า 4 แก้ว      náam-bplào 4 gâeo

I have two books             ผมมีหนังสือ 2 เล่ม                pŏm mii năng-sŭe 2 lêm

She bought 10 shirts       เขาซื้อเสื้อ 10 ตัว                 kăo súe sûea 10 dtua

 

When you place food order at the restaurant, let’s  say you order two PadThai, three bottles of Chang Beer and one glass of ice. The orders in Thai are:

เอาผัดไท 1 จาน เบียร์ช้าง 3 ขวดแล้วก็น้ำแข็ง 1 แก้ว

ao “PadThai 1 jaan”, “bia cháang 3 kùat” láew-gôr “náam-kăeng 1 gâeo”

 

Please don’t feel frightened that there are too many unit counts to remember. I think in everyday like we use about 5-10 unit counts. Here is the list of the common Thai classifiers.

kon                  คน      people

dtua                 ตัว       animals, clothes, tables, chairs, letters of alphabet, cigarettes etc.

lêm                  เล่ม      books, notebooks, magazines, *knives, *candles

an                    อัน      pieces of candy, ashtrays, round object, objects with unknown classifiers.

lûuk                 ลูก      fruit, mountains, balls and other round things.

fong                  ฟอง        eggs

krûeang           เครื่อง     radios, T.V.s, refrigerators, computers, electrical or mechanical machines.

kan                   คัน           cars, motorbikes, bikes, *spoons, *forks, umbrellas

chán                ชั้น           floors of building, grades of class in schools, classes of train or airplane seats

hâwng             ห้อง         rooms

dàwk               ดอก        flowers

kráng               ครั้ง         times (number of occurrences)

yàang              อย่าง      kinds of things, number of things

kûu                  คู่             pairs of thing or couple

rûeang             เรื่อง        movies, plays, stories

dtôn                 ต้น           trees

chút                 ชุด           set of things, suits, dresses

lăng                 หลัง         houses

And we use ‘container’ as the unit count of food

bai                   ใบ       bags, glasses, cups, fruits, plates, bottles, boxes, sheets of paper

jaan                 จาน         numbers of plates, rice, food etc.

gâeo                แก้ว         numbers of glasses of beer, water etc.

tûai                  ถ้วย        numbers of cups of tea, coffee, soup etc.

 

Next time you count, let’s count like a Thai:)

 

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Filed Under: Speak Like a Thai, Videos Tagged With: Learn Thai, Speak Thai, Study Thai, Thai classifier, Thai Grammar, Thai Language

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Evert says

    Wednesday May 8, 2019 at 19:05

    Kruu Mod, Khor thot krap,

    Is this corect or have it to be song jaan, or is 1 jaan 2

    When you place food order at the restaurant, let’s say you order two PadThai, three bottles of Chang Beer and one glass of ice. The orders in Thai are:

    เอาผัดไท 1 จาน เบียร์ช้าง 3 ขวดแล้วก็น้ำแข็ง 1 แก้ว

    ao “PadThai 1 jaan”, “bia cháang 3 kùat” láew-gôr “náam-kăeng 1 gâeo”

    Reply
    • Mod says

      Sunday June 16, 2019 at 15:54

      What you said is correct. เก่งมากค่ะ 🙂

      Reply
  2. Pardeep says

    Thursday November 2, 2017 at 00:37

    Send me you address I want learn thai

    Reply
  3. Pardeep says

    Thursday November 2, 2017 at 00:37

    Send me you address

    Reply
  4. Jessica says

    Thursday February 11, 2016 at 05:02

    How would you ask for 2 bowls of quail fried quail eggs?

    And how do you ask for both hard boiled and quail eggs.

    For example:

    I would like both the hard boiled quail eggs and the fried quail eggs, one bowl of each, please. (Or are those card board baskets the quail eggs come in as street food called something other than a “bowl”?)

    And what about those sticky rice doughnuts. Do those count as “round things”?

    What is the classifier for triangle shaped things, like those sticky rice kanom or those delicious fried yellow bean things?

    Reply
    • Mod says

      Thursday April 7, 2016 at 19:43

      Quail eggs in Thai is ไข่นกกระทา /kài nók grà-taa/, ‘fried’ is ทอด /tâwd/ so ‘fried quail eggs’ in Thai is ไข่นกกระทาทอด /kài nók grà-taa tâwd/.

      ‘Boiled’ in Thai is ต้ม /dtôm/ so ‘boiled quail eggs’ in Thai is ไข่นกกระทาต้ม /kài nók grà-taa dtôm/.

      The card board basket they use at street vendor is called ถาด /tàad/ (tray)

      You can place order by saying ‘I would like to have one tray of fried quail eggs and one tray of boiled quail eggs’ –> เอาไข่นกกระทาทอด 1 ถาด ao kài nók grà-taa tâwd 1 tàad แล้วก็ láew-gâw (and) ไข่นกกระทาต้ม 1 ถาด kài nók grà-taa dtôm 1 tàad.

      Yes, the sticky rice doughnuts is considered as round things, you can use “อัน/an/” as classifier as well as triangle shaped snacks. 🙂

      Reply
  5. Henry says

    Tuesday April 7, 2015 at 18:19

    Hi Mod,

    what is the classifier of chopsticks?
    How to say ” Please give me 2 pairs of chopsticks.”
    What is the meaning of the word “duay” in Yindee duay” or “Gep ngeern duay krap”?
    Kawpkoon maakmaak!!

    Henry

    Reply
    • Mod says

      Wednesday April 8, 2015 at 22:26

      Classifier for anything that comes in a pair is “คู่ kûu”
      You can make a request ขอตะเกียบ 2 คู่ kăw dtà-gìap 2 kûu 🙂

      “ด้วย dûai” has several meanings;
      [1] It is a particle used with telling someone to do something , ‘gep dtang’ is a phrase used when asking for a bill, it is literally translated as ‘collect the money’, so you tell the waiter to collect your money then the particle ‘duai’ is used to make it polite.

      [2] “duai” means ‘too, as well’ , it is used when you want to join in –> do something + “duai”
      Example; your friend is going to a market and you want to join, so you can say “bpai duâi” (go too).

      [3] “duai” is used to express your feeling toward someone
      – ยินดี yin-dii means ‘to be pleased’ , “yin-dii dûai” means ‘I am pleased for you’ or ‘congratulations’
      – ดีใจ dii-jai means ‘glad’ , ‘dii-jai dûai’ means ‘I am happy for you’ as well as ‘congratulations’
      – เสียใจ sǐa-jai means ‘sad’ , ‘sǐa-jai dûai’ means ‘I am sorry to hear that’

      Hope this helps. 🙂

      Reply
      • Henry says

        Monday April 20, 2015 at 16:32

        Thank you very much Mod.
        I will go to เชียงใหม่ next month, I hope I can speak some “pa sa Thai”.

        Reply
  6. Deescha says

    Saturday March 7, 2015 at 04:26

    Hi P’Mod,

    I have noticed that in your videos when you say ‘I’, you use your name instead of ‘chun’. Eg: Mod ja bpai gin kaao. Instead of ‘chun ja bpai gin kaao’. Do I use my name when saying ‘I’ or do I use ‘chun’. I’m slightly confused!!

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Mod says

      Saturday March 21, 2015 at 12:58

      Sawatdii ka Nong Deescha, there are many ways to address yourself in Thai language. It depends on the relationship between you and the person you are talking to. ‘chan’ is usually used when talking to a close friend, ‘rao’ is used when talking to a friend that is not so close. It is common for Thai women to address ourselves with our nicknames when talking to an older person or address yourself in general. 🙂

      Reply
    • Mod says

      Saturday March 21, 2015 at 13:00

      Please read this lesson: Understand Thai Pronoun ‘I’ –> https://learnthaiwithmod.com/?p=1076

      Reply
  7. Jeff says

    Sunday January 25, 2015 at 18:41

    Hey Teacher,

    I really like your website and your videos !

    I have a question :

    Classifiers are use to count. But it’s also use to show something right ?

    like : หมาตัวนี้

    If i want to ask to someone : What is it ? (and showing something)
    Do I have to use classifiers ?

    : อันนี้อะไร ?

    Or can i just say : นี่อะไร ?

    It’s confusing me !

    If i’m in the street and I want to ask “what is this ?” (showing food) Do I have to use a classifiers or not ? And if yes, which one ?

    Thankss

    Reply
    • Mod says

      Thursday March 5, 2015 at 09:42

      Sawatdee ka Jeff, apologies for my late response.

      Classifier is also used to indicate something like you mentioned, that is correct. 🙂

      You can also use นี่ which means ‘this’ without a noun and classifier, so อันนี้อะไร and นี่อะไร is the same.

      Reply
  8. Jeana says

    Thursday August 14, 2014 at 15:28

    Love these videos, i’m teaching English in thailand and trying to learn some Thai while I am here.

    How would you say “Can I have one more pillow?”

    Reply
  9. ืืทอม says

    Saturday August 2, 2014 at 08:18

    Hello Mod.

    I have seen classifier tee for food/dishes like this:
    sandwich neung tee
    or
    tom yam neung tee

    When to use tee and when to use jaan/tuai/chaam?

    Is it true that you can use a general classifier an for small things and
    a general classifier laang for big things?

    Reply
    • Mod says

      Monday August 4, 2014 at 13:21

      Sawatdee ka Tom,

      ที่ /tîi/ is used as a classifier in formal situation for ‘serving’. It is usually used by the waiters in restaurants. If you go to eat on the street, they will just use the container i.e. jaan/tuai/chaam as it is doesn’t need to be formal.

      อัน /an/ can be used as a general classifier for small things. 🙂

      I am not sure what “laang” is (perhaps you meant the word หลัง /lăng/ that is used with houses?), but we don’t have a general classifier for big things. 🙂

      Reply
  10. เอก says

    Sunday April 20, 2014 at 15:49

    สวยด้วยเก่งด้วย Keep up your good work! ^^

    Reply
    • Mod says

      Sunday April 20, 2014 at 22:02

      ขอบคุณมากค่ะ ^^

      Reply
  11. Graham says

    Thursday July 18, 2013 at 16:50

    Hi mod,
    I enjoy your videos especially the ones with role play-it really helps to hear the words used in sentences.
    I see some people here have trouble remembering the 10 classifiers,from my other thai studies i believe you can merely repeat the noun instead of using the classifier for example, pom mee bahn bahn sorng instead of pom mee bahn sorng lang.
    What do you think?

    Reply
  12. ced says

    Saturday June 1, 2013 at 15:55

    hi! I really appreciate your videos. I really want to learn thai that’s why i’m doing self-study and by the help of your videos. thank you so much. It will help a lot to me. :))

    Reply
  13. chester says

    Friday May 3, 2013 at 15:00

    Hullo Mod. At classifier lem why is there a * at knives and candles and at classifier kan *spoons and forks

    Reply
    • Mod says

      Saturday May 4, 2013 at 22:10

      Sawatdee ka Chester,
      Yes, the word “lem” is also classifier for knives and candles. “kan” is classifier for cars, spoons and forks. I am sorry I don’t know the reason why one word is a classifier for different things.

      Reply
      • chester says

        Monday May 13, 2013 at 11:37

        no problem i was just wondering why there is a star “*” there. ha ha ha your videos are good (cck gamlang gaai and som nam naa are my favourite). sawatdii kap 🙂

        Reply
  14. Andy says

    Friday May 3, 2013 at 13:58

    something i did in thailand a lot was eat soup. lots of soup. more soup than you can shake a stick at. so how would i ask
    can i have 2 bowls of pork noodle soup
    ao som ???? moo ??? ???

    Reply
  15. phurba says

    Sunday April 14, 2013 at 22:32

    i always saw you are thai language video i get more knowledge and idea, but only 5 minute then after i forget all the words. i think one day i also forget my name.

    Reply
  16. lequan20 says

    Sunday March 24, 2013 at 15:31

    I learn the question word ใด้ ไหม, now you wrote ใด้ มั้ย, I do not see and do not know this before. Do I learn wrong?

    Reply
    • Mod says

      Thursday March 28, 2013 at 11:23

      “ไหม” is a formal written language. When Thai people say this question word, it is pronounced with high tone so there is a new way to write this word to match the new pronunciation.

      Personally, I prefer to write มั้ย. 🙂

      Reply
      • phurba says

        Sunday April 14, 2013 at 22:14

        i am always be the practice thai language and also saw the tv but i can’t the remember the any words, so you have to any suggestion for me how is to improve the thai language?

        Reply
  17. Kim says

    Sunday March 24, 2013 at 01:31

    Hi kruu Mod,

    You are such a great Thai teacher on website, I love to learn it very much and I hope some days soon in the near future I will speak and understand Thai language very well. kop kun krap!

    Reply
  18. Young says

    Thursday March 21, 2013 at 15:07

    When I went to BKK on last Thuesday(at the time, I met you with my co-workers near the Korean town! Wow!), I bought some clothes and pouch in the ‘Jim Thompsons’ as a gift for my family. When I check the bill, I said “thang-mot thao-rai khrap?”
    But I don’t know what is different between ‘thang-mot’ and ‘kho-la’. Can you explain about this?

    Reply
    • Mod says

      Thursday March 21, 2013 at 18:22

      Sawatdee ka Yeong, yes I remember we met. : )

      ทั้งหมด /tang-mot/ means ‘altogether’,but I am not sure about the word ‘kho-la’ you mentioned. Could you give a me a context please? kop kun ka. 🙂

      Reply
      • Young says

        Friday March 22, 2013 at 14:22

        I think I was misinformed.

        “Kheo thot mak khrap~^^”

        Reply
  19. Tim says

    Thursday March 21, 2013 at 05:39

    Haaa, I thing,
    Mod mii gra- bpao sip song bai. – at least 😉

    Reply
  20. doug says

    Saturday March 16, 2013 at 23:34

    Thank you Mod , I like to learn with you!!
    You are so beautiful !!! Its a true pleasure!!
    I hope i can speak thai for meet more people awesome like you !!
    I wish the best for you.

    Reply
  21. Pascal says

    Monday March 11, 2013 at 05:12

    thank you for this new lesson

    Reply
  22. Andrew says

    Monday March 11, 2013 at 03:08

    Thanks Kru Mod. You are the best!

    Reply
  23. ราล์ฟ says

    Monday March 11, 2013 at 00:27

    What is the classifier for websites? เล่ม?

    Reply
    • Mod says

      Monday March 11, 2013 at 11:13

      The classifier for website is the word ‘website’เว็บไซต์ or in short เว็บ /web/. When the noun and the classifier are identical, the noun can be dropped.
      Example; I have three websites: ผมมี(เว็บไซต์) 3 เว็บไซต์ you can just say ผมมี 3 เว็บไซต์.

      Reply
  24. Winfried says

    Monday March 11, 2013 at 00:09

    Khun Mod,
    the list above shows that ตัว is the classifier for cigarettes บุหรี่ . Would ตัว also be used for packs of cigarettes (ซอง ?) ?
    Thank you for clarification.

    Reply
    • Mod says

      Monday March 11, 2013 at 11:15

      the word pack in Thai is ซอง /song/;
      He smoked two packs of cigarettes เขาสูบบุหรี่ 2 ซอง
      ็He smoked two cigarettes เขาสูบบุหรี่ 2 ตัว

      🙂

      Reply
      • Winfried says

        Monday March 11, 2013 at 11:30

        Thank you!

        Reply
  25. Elo says

    Sunday March 10, 2013 at 22:22

    thank you Mod for this new video.

    Reply
  26. Bond says

    Thursday January 10, 2013 at 18:38

    Hi mod, nice to meet you. Indi didai lujak kun ^^.
    If I want to one more boild rice in the restaurant, how can I order it?

    Reply
  27. renta says

    Thursday December 20, 2012 at 09:33

    haii..i’m a new learner of thai language and aaaa i found it so complicated to speak fluently in thai language..hahaa
    but it’s really nice to try and i think it will be cool if know even just a very little bit of this language..so your blog is really helpful for me.sa-wat di kha..:)

    Reply
  28. peter says

    Monday December 10, 2012 at 19:48

    Dearest Mod,
    I would like know how to pronunciation these word.
    I have difficult thai tone……..
    Can you help me a video?
    thanks………

    Reply
  29. Kevin says

    Friday December 7, 2012 at 13:59

    It is good to know that we only need to learn 5 – 10 of these.
    I have tried to learn others but forget them 2 days after I
    learn them.

    Reply
  30. Alvin says

    Friday December 7, 2012 at 00:48

    คำลักษณนาม..how to pronounce?

    Reply
    • Mod says

      Friday December 7, 2012 at 10:51

      It is คำลักษณนาม (คำ ลัก สะ หนะ นาม kam lák-sà-nà-naam).

      Reply

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