Classifier in Thai

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.

Classifier Placement:

The general rule is to place classifiers after the noun they are referring to. This seems counterintuitive for most, but you get used to it with Thai. However, when you are talking about numbers (how many of a certain object) then the grammatical structure becomes:

[noun + number + classifier]

There are some useful classifiers that you should know, especially the common classifiers, such as:

1. Containers: You need to use them when you are ordering food or drinks mostly.

1.1) จาน (jāan) = plate / dish

This classifier is used to specify the quantity of plates or dishes.

For example:

– May I have 2 plates of rice, please?

ขอข้าว 2 จานครับ/ค่ะ

khɔ̌ɔ khâaw sɔ̌ɔŋ jaan khráp/khà

1.2) ถ้วย (tuay) = small bowl or cup (hot drinks)

This classifier is used to specify the quantity of small soup bowls or dipping sauce bowls. It is also used as a classifier for cups of hot coffee or tea.

For example:

– May I have a cup of hot tea and a cup of hot coffee, please?

ขอชาร้อน 1 ถ้วย และกาแฟร้อน 1 ถ้วย ครับ/ค่ะ

khɔ̌ɔ chaa rɔ́ɔn nɯ̀ŋ thûay lɛ́ gaa fɛɛ rɔ́ɔn nɯ̀ŋ thûay khráp/khà

1.3) ชาม (ch̄aam) = bowl (larger size)

This classifier is used to specify the quantity of larger-sized bowls, for example bowls of noodles.

For example:

– May I have a bowl of pork noodles, please?

ขอก๋วยเตี๋ยวหมู 1 ชาม ครับ/ค่ะ

khɔ̌ɔ gǔay dtiǎw mǔu náam nɯ̀ŋ chaam kháp/khà

2. Animals: The generic classifier for animals is ตัว (dtua)

For example:

I have two cats.

ฉันมีแมวสองตัว

chǎn mii mɛɛw sɔ̌ɔŋ dtua

I have a big dog.

ฉันมีหมาตัวใหญ่

chǎn mii mǎa dtua yài

There are many more classifiers in Thai, but now you know how to use them. Although remembering a classifier for every single noun would seem to present a fairly significant difficulty for the learner of Thai, in reality learning 20-30 classifiers is sufficient to quantify the vast majority of nouns. It can take time to memorize all of them, so you should try to learn them one by one. Soon you will start to use them naturally when speaking Thai!.