Learn how to tell time in Thai
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| Michael: How do you ask for the time in Thai? |
| Nantanee: And how do you tell the time? |
| Michael: At ThaiPod101.com, we hear these questions often. In the following situation, during a school break, Sasha Lee asks her classmate Kaewjai Kornkan about the time. They don't want to be late for their next class. Sasha asks, |
| "What time is it?" |
| Sasha Lee: ตอนนี้กี่โมง (dtaawn-níi gìi moong) |
| Dialogue |
| Sasha Lee: ตอนนี้กี่โมง (dtaawn-níi gìi moong) |
| Kaewjai Kornkan: ตอนนี้สามโมงสิบห้านาที (dtaawn-níi săam-moong sìp-hâa naa-thii) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Sasha Lee: ตอนนี้กี่โมง (dtaawn-níi gìi moong) |
| Michael: "What time is it?" |
| Kaewjai Kornkan: ตอนนี้สามโมงสิบห้านาที (dtaawn-níi săam-moong sìp-hâa naa-thii) |
| Michael: "It's a quarter past three." |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Michael: Knowing how to ask for the time, as well as how to tell the time, is fundamental when you're learning Thai. In this lesson, you'll learn exactly these two things. But, before we move forward, one thing you need to know first is that the way of telling time in Thai is different from that of English and other languages. The Thai language does use the 24-hour format, but only to some extent, and mostly in formal situations. In everyday life, a unique time format is used. As to how one should ask for the time in Thai, the most common way is by saying, |
| Nantanee: กี่โมงแล้ว (gìi moong láaeo) |
| Michael: or "What time is it?" The first word here is |
| Nantanee: กี่ (gìi) |
| Michael: which literally means "how many?" The second word is |
| Nantanee: โมง (moong) |
| Michael: which is a classifier for time, somewhat like "o'clock." And then there's the word, |
| Nantanee: แล้ว (láaeo) |
| Michael: or "already." In a sense, asking the question, |
| Nantanee: กี่โมงแล้ว (gìi mong láaeo) |
| Michael: is like saying, "How many hours already?" |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: This time, let's take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Sasha Lee says "What time is it?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Nantanee as Sasha Lee: ตอนนี้กี่โมง (dtaawn-níi gìi moong) |
| Michael: You might be wondering why Sasha here uses a different way of asking for the time from the one that we've just learned. This is just one of the few ways to ask for the time in Thai. This time, we have the word |
| Nantanee: ตอนนี้ (dtaawn-níi) |
| Michael: which means "now" or "at present." And, once again, we encounter the word, |
| Nantanee: กี่ (gìi) |
| Michael: or "how many?" And, yet again, we encounter the word |
| Nantanee: โมง (moong) |
| Michael: to refer to the time. Literally, what Sasha was trying to say was, "How many hours are there at present?" |
| [Recall 2] |
| Michael: Now, let's take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Kaewjai Kornkan says "It's a quarter past three?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Nantanee as Kaewjai Kornkan: ตอนนี้สามโมงสิบห้านาที (dtaawn-níi săam-moong sìp-hâa naa-thii) |
| Michael: This is where things can get tricky, but let's break things down a bit so we don't get confused. There's no Thai equivalent to the expressions "quarter to" and "quarter past." Instead, the numbers 15 and 45 are used. However, for the expression "half past," you can use the word |
| Nantanee: ครึ่ง (khrûeng) |
| Michael: which means "half." Let's break down Kaewjai's response to Sasha. First, we have the word |
| Nantanee: ตอนนี้ (dtaawn-níi) |
| Michael: which, again, means "now." Next, we have the word |
| Nantanee: สาม (săam), |
| Michael: which refers to "three." And, then again, we have the word |
| Nantanee: โมง (moong) |
| Michael: or "hour." And, finally, we have |
| Nantanee: สิบห้านาที (sìp-hâa naa-thii) |
| Michael: or "fifteen minutes." Literally, what we have here is "Now three hours fifteen minutes." So, when Kaewjai answered Sasha's question with |
| Nantanee: ตอนนี้สามโมงสิบห้านาที (dtaawn-níi săam-moong sìp-hâa naa-thii), |
| Michael: what she was literally saying was "It's three and fifteen minutes," or more properly "Fifteen minutes after the hour of three." |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: So far, you have learned the two most common ways to ask for the time in Thai, which are |
| Nantanee: กี่โมงแล้ว (gìi moong láaeo) |
| Michael: or "What time is it?" and |
| Nantanee: ตอนนี้กี่โมง (dtaawn-níi gìi moong) |
| Michael: or "What time is it now?" You've also learned the Thai equivalent of the expression "a quarter past," wherein we literally use the number 15, which in Thai is |
| Nantanee: สิบห้า (sìp-hâa) |
| Michael: And let's not forget two important elements of telling time, which are |
| Nantanee: โมง (moong) |
| Michael: which means "hour" or "o'clock," and |
| Nantanee: นาที (naa-thii) |
| Michael: or "minutes." |
| Expansion/Contrast |
| Michael: This time, let's go into the details of telling time in Thai. The easiest way for us to learn this is by understanding that the Thai clock is divided into four blocks of six hours each. This is way different than in other cultures where the clock is divided into two blocks of 12 hours. For telling time between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m., the hour is preceded by the word |
| Nantanee: ตี (dtii) |
| Michael: So, in Thai, 1:00 a.m. is |
| Nantanee: ตีหนึ่ง (dtii-nùeng) |
| Michael: 5:00 a.m. is |
| Nantanee: ตีห้า (dtii-hâa). |
| Michael: Things are different when telling time from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. In this case, the hour is followed by |
| Nantanee: โมง (moong) |
| Michael: Sometimes, it's also followed by |
| Nantanee: เช้า (cháao) |
| Michael: or "morning." And this is just the beginning. The hours between 7:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. can also be read using the numbers 1 to 5, followed by |
| Nantanee: โมงเช้า (moong-cháao) |
| Michael: For instance, 9:00 a.m. can either be read as |
| Nantanee: เก้าโมงเช้า (gâao moong-cháao) |
| Michael: "9 o'clock in the morning," or, |
| Nantanee: สามโมงเช้า (săam moong-cháao) |
| Michael: or "3 o'clock in the morning." This is what it means to say that the clock in Thai is divided into four blocks. This should tell you that 6:00 a.m. can only be referred to as |
| Nantanee: หกโมงเช้า (hòk moong-cháao) |
| Michael: or "6 o'clock in the morning." As for the hours between 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., Thai people use the words |
| Nantanee: บ่าย (bàai) |
| Michael: "early afternoon," and |
| Nantanee: เย็น (yen), |
| Michael: which means "late afternoon," or "early evening." Thai people use early afternoon for 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. and late afternoon or early evening for 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. 4:00 p.m. is considered as the transition between the two, so it's up to you which expression you're going to use. However, most people prefer to use the expression for the late afternoon for this hour. And, finally, for the hours between 7:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m., time is read using the numbers 1 to 5 followed by |
| Nantanee: ทุ่ม (thûm) |
| Michael: So, 7:00 p.m. would be |
| Nantanee: หนึ่งทุ่ม (nùeng-thûm) |
| Michael: and 10:00 p.m. would be |
| Nantanee: สี่ทุ่ม (sìi-thûm) |
| Michael: Now, how about the minutes? In Thai, you simply add them to the equation. For instance, 7:15 a.m. would be |
| Nantanee: เจ็ดโมงเช้าสิบห้า (jèt-moong-cháao sìp-hâa) |
| Michael: or literally "7 o'clock in the morning 15." Meanwhile, 3:20 p.m. would be |
| Nantanee: บ่ายสามยี่สิบ (bàai-săam yîi-sìp) |
| Michael: which literally is "3 o'clock afternoon twenty." |
| Cultural Insight/Expansion |
| Michael: Being punctual is a must in every society. For many Thai people, however, being on time is not always a concern. A habit that leads to a lack of punctuality is referred to as |
| Nantanee: ตามเวลาไทย (dtaam wee-laa thai) |
| Michael: or "Thai time." Does this mean that Thais don't deem time as important? No. Thais value time the same way that other cultures do. The only explanation is that Thais perceive time differently. For instance, at the bus stop, a Thai would say, "The bus is here" or |
| Nantanee: รถบัสอยู่ที่นี่ (rót-bát yùu thîi nîi) |
| Michael: even if only a small portion of the bus can be seen from a long way off. That said, when you're attending a business meeting with some Thai people, be sure to arrive on time. But, then, expect the meeting to start exactly thirty minutes after the time originally set. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Nantanee: แล้วพบกันใหม่เร็วๆ นี้ค่ะ (láaeo-phóp-gan-mài reo-reo-níi khâ) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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