Numbers and counting in Thai
57 words in Thai on the topic “numbers and counting”: หนึ่ง — one, สอง — two, สาม — three, สี่ — four.
57 words on the topic
- หนึ่งнынгoneA classifier must follow the number: nueng khon — "one person", nueng kaeo — "one glass". A bare nueng does not live in speech about things
- สองсонгtwoThai borrowed its numerals twice: the native "two" and the bookish song stand in a row — in speech people say song
- สามсамthreeNumber plus classifier, always a pair: saam khon — "three people". The classifier is chosen by the object, not by the number
- สี่сиfourSounds like the word "to die" said with a different tone, so hospitals and hotels often skip fours: after the third floor comes the fifth
- ห้าхаfiveThe tone falls. Further along the count the classifier is obligatory: haa kaeo — "five glasses"
- หกхокsixThe tone is low. The clock is told through mong: hok mong — "six o'clock", literally "six strikes"
- เจ็ดджетsevenNot "eight": that is paet. The Thai days of the week are named after colors, and Sunday is the red day — but the count is one for everything
- แปดпэтeightThe tone falls. The lucky number: it sounds like the word "to prosper", so Thais pick eights first in phone numbers and addresses
- เก้าкаоnineThe tone falls, a long "aa". It argues with khao, "he", in tones alone: the numeral falls, the pronoun rises
- สิบсипtenThe final p is not released: sip, not sipa. Everything above ten is assembled from it: sip et — eleven, literally "ten one"
- สิบ เอ็ดсип этelevenLiterally "ten one": tens are added together, and the rule holds to the very end of counting. Et is a special "one" reserved for the end of a number
- สิบ สองсип сонгtwelveTen plus the familiar song. There is no dozen in Thai — twelve is just the count as it runs
- สิบ สามсип самthirteenTen plus saam. Every part stays audible inside the number: sip and saam do not fuse — Thai does not squeeze its numbers
- สิบ สี่сип сиfourteenThe same four that scares hospitals and hotels. Inside a number it scares nobody — the superstition clings only to the bare number
- สิบ ห้าсип хаfifteenTen plus haa. Thai does not call a quarter of an hour by this number: fifteen minutes are named with the plain numbers
- สิบ หกсип хокsixteenTen plus the familiar hok, "six". Nothing changes inside the number — the tens are added honestly
- สิบ เจ็ดсип джетseventeenTen plus chet, "seven". On paper the two words stand apart — Thai does not fuse its numbers
- สิบ แปดсип пэтeighteenThe lucky paet carries its luck inside the number just as well as alone. Eighteen is the age of majority in Thailand
- สิบ เก้าсип каоnineteenTen plus kao, "nine", with the falling tone of the numeral. The last number before a new root: at twenty the counting rule shifts
- ยี่ สิบйи сипtwentyThe only ten where "two" sounds different: yi instead of song. After that it is easy: saam sip is thirty, haa sip is fifty
- สาม สิบсам сипthirty"Three ten" — the addition is honest and audible. Shop prices are read exactly this way: ten after ten
- สี่ สิบси сипforty"Four ten". In fast speech sii and sip fuse — listen for the classifier, it will show where the number ends
- ห้า สิบха сипfifty"Five ten". The half hundred is the most common price at the market; the cashier will say it faster than you get the money out
- หก สิบхок сипsixty"Six ten". There are as many seconds in a minute — the Thai tens-based count of time differs in nothing
- เจ็ด สิบджет сипseventy"Seven ten". The bigger tens are built the same way: Thai created no separate words for them
- แปด สิบпэт сипeighty"Eight ten" — the lucky number in harness with a ten. Thais like prices with eights: they are easy to hear and lucky
- เก้า สิบкао сипninety"Nine ten". After it the count returns to "hundred" — and the hundreds are built in a new way
- ร้อยройhundredHundreds are added: song roi — two hundred, saam roi — three hundred. The vowel is long and you can hear it: roi stretches
- พันпханthousandA thousand in one syllable. Shop prices easily reach nueng phan baht — ordinary money for a decent jacket
- ล้านлаанmillionA million in one syllable, the tone falls. It argues with lan, the "square", over almost nothing — by ear these are different worlds, and the tone is the judge
- ศูนย์суунzeroZero in a number, zero on the score and zero temperature — one word. In phone numbers it is pronounced readily: suun is simpler than explaining
- ที่ หนึ่งти нынгfirstThe ordinal is assembled thi plus the number: thi nueng, thi song, thi saam. The same thi as in "here" and "there" — the link that is everywhere
- ที่ สองти сонгsecondThe same scheme: thi plus song. The second floor is chan thi song, and the word order never changes
- ที่ สามти самthirdThe ordinal from saam. "The third time" is khrang thi saam, and the word for "time" here is its own, not the clock one
- สุด ท้ายсут тхайlast; finalLiterally "the end of the end": thai is the rear, the tail. "The last bus" is a phrase from Bangkok's night life
- กี่кийhow manyIt asks about counting pieces: kii khon — how many people, kii mong — at what time. The price is asked with another word — thao rai
- คู่кхууpair; coupleA pair of things and a married couple — one word. The classifier for paired objects is khuu too
- ชิ้นчинpiece (classifier)The classifier for pieces and countable things: bread, soap, cakes. "Piece" in Thai is not a word but a measure after the number
- เปอร์เซ็นต์пёрсентpercentEnglish percent, adopted whole. "A discount of ten percent" is counted in Thai — the digits are not switched to English
- ทุกтхукevery; eachIt stands before the word and does not change: thuk wan — every day, thuk khon — every person. The word "all" is assembled from it too
- สอง ร้อยсонг ройtwo hundredNumber plus roi — the same scheme as the tens, and nothing else changes. Prices in baht are read in hundreds, and this is the most ordinary hundred of shop talk
- สาม ร้อยсам ройthree hundredSaam roi — three hundred. Thai created no separate words for hundreds: any number from two to nine simply goes in front of roi
- สี่ ร้อยси ройfour hundredSii roi — four hundred. People sidestep fours here: the unlucky sii drags along behind the hundred, and a fourth hundred is avoided in prices
- ห้า ร้อยха ройfive hundredHaa roi — five hundred. The row of hundreds is regular: after saam roi and sii roi nothing drops out and nothing changes
- หก ร้อยхок ройsix hundredHok roi — six hundred. Hok itself has a low tone and roi stretches in a mid tone — the border of the number is audible
- เจ็ด ร้อยджет ройseven hundredChet roi — seven hundred. The final t of chet stays unreleased, exactly as in sip
- แปด ร้อยпэт ройeight hundredPaet roi — eight hundred: the lucky paet paired with a hundred. Price tags show digits, but out loud the number is always read in full
- เก้า ร้อยкао ройnine hundredKao roi — nine hundred, the last hundred before phan, the thousand you already know. The numeral has the falling tone; khao "he" rises
- ที่ สี่ти сиfourthThe ordinal is thi plus the number — the fourth after the familiar "first" through "third". Fours are avoided in numbering: a hotel may have no fourth floor
- ที่ ห้าти хаfifthThi haa — the fifth. The ordinal follows the noun and changes nothing in it: wan thi haa — the fifth day
- ที่ หกти хокsixthThi hok — the sixth. The same thi as in "here" and in dates binds order everywhere: floors, days, buses
- ที่ เจ็ดти джетseventhThi chet — the seventh. In the Thai week the seventh day is Saturday, and Sunday opens the count anew
- ที่ แปดти пэтeighthThi paet — the eighth: the lucky number in order too. A bus number is always an ordinal with thi
- ที่ เก้าти каоninthThi kao — the ninth. It differs from the number only by the link: kao is "nine", thi kao is "ninth"
- ที่ สิบти сипtenthThi sip — the tenth. The row does not end at ten: further the same way — thi yi sip, the eleventh
- ที่ ร้อยти ройhundredthThi roi — the hundredth: the same link thi before "hundred". Page, house or day number one hundred is read with it too
- เลขлекnumber; figureNumber in general and the school digit: "he loves the number nine". Nearby lives tua lek — "digit", the sign on paper
How it sounds in a sentence
A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.
- ขอ กาแฟ หนึ่ง แก้วкхо кафэ нынг гэоOne coffee (one glass)
- ขอ ชา สอง แก้วкхо ча сонг гэоTwo teas (two cups)
- ขอ น้ำ สาม แก้วкхо нам сам гэоThree waters (three glasses)
- มี คน สี่ คนми кхон си кхонThere are four people
- ขอ น้ำ ห้า แก้วкхо нам ха гэоFive glasses of water
- หก โมง เช้าхок монг чаоAt six in the morning
What is worth knowing about these words
หนึ่ง (нынг) — one. A classifier must follow the number: nueng khon — "one person", nueng kaeo — "one glass". A bare nueng does not live in speech about things.
สอง (сонг) — two. Thai borrowed its numerals twice: the native "two" and the bookish song stand in a row — in speech people say song.
สาม (сам) — three. Number plus classifier, always a pair: saam khon — "three people". The classifier is chosen by the object, not by the number.
สี่ (си) — four. Sounds like the word "to die" said with a different tone, so hospitals and hotels often skip fours: after the third floor comes the fifth.
Test yourself
Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than recognizing a familiar word — and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “one” in Thai?
A classifier must follow the number: nueng khon — "one person", nueng kaeo — "one glass". A bare nueng does not live in speech about things
- How do you say “eight” in Thai?
The tone falls. The lucky number: it sounds like the word "to prosper", so Thais pick eights first in phone numbers and addresses
- How do you say “fifteen” in Thai?
Ten plus haa. Thai does not call a quarter of an hour by this number: fifteen minutes are named with the plain numbers
- How do you say “forty” in Thai?
"Four ten". In fast speech sii and sip fuse — listen for the classifier, it will show where the number ends
- How do you say “thousand” in Thai?
A thousand in one syllable. Shop prices easily reach nueng phan baht — ordinary money for a decent jacket
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
A price, the change, a house number, the time you agreed on, the floor. Numbers are the first thing you have to catch by ear — and the first thing people say fast.
A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- Study spread over days wins not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “one” in Thai?
«หนึ่ง», read “нынг”. A classifier must follow the number: nueng khon — "one person", nueng kaeo — "one glass". A bare nueng does not live in speech about things. It is one of 57 words in the set “numbers and counting” — the rest are in the table above.
How many numbers do you need to start?
The whole set on this page is 57 words, but there is no need to start with all of it: the words you will need in the next few days are enough. Take them a few at a time — five to seven new ones per session.