Practice: telling the time
What you will be able to do
Hear a Thai time and land on the right half of the day, including the evening block where the number you hear is six less than the number on the clock.
Thai does not count one to twelve twice. It cuts the day into blocks, and inside each block the counting starts again from one, so the number you hear belongs to the block rather than to the clock face. Until you know which block you are in, the number tells you almost nothing. Learn the block words first and the arithmetic second.
What time is this?
สี่ทุ่ม
ทุ่ม counts the evening block from 7pm, so สี่ทุ่ม is 10pm, not 4pm. Add six to the ทุ่ม number. This single mistake costs foreigners whole evenings.
What time is this?
ตีสาม
ตี covers the small hours after midnight, and here the spoken number IS the clock number, so ตีสาม is 3am.
What time is this?
บ่ายสองโมง
บ่าย marks the afternoon, so บ่ายสองโมง is 2pm.
What time is this?
เที่ยง
เที่ยง is noon. Midnight is เที่ยงคืน, literally the noon of the night.
What time is this?
หกโมงเช้า
โมงเช้า is the morning block, so หกโมงเช้า is 6am.
What time is this?
ห้าโมงเย็น
เย็น marks the cool end of the afternoon, so ห้าโมงเย็น is 5pm.
What time is this?
บ่ายโมง
บ่ายโมง is 1pm, with no number at all. Saying บ่ายหนึ่งโมง marks you out immediately.
What does this add to a time?
ครึ่ง
ครึ่ง goes on the end and means half past: บ่ายโมงครึ่ง is half past one in the afternoon.
What does this add to a time?
ตรง
ตรง means exactly. เที่ยงตรง is twelve sharp.
What time is this?
สิบสามนาฬิกาสามสิบนาที
นาฬิกา is the 24-hour form used on tickets, timetables and announcements. This is 13:30.
What does this ask?
กี่โมงแล้ว
กี่โมงแล้ว, gìi-moong láew, is what time is it now. It works at any hour, even at 3am when the answer comes back as ตีสาม.
What do you do to it?
a number you hear with ทุ่ม
Add six. สองทุ่ม is 8pm, สามทุ่ม is 9pm, สี่ทุ่ม is 10pm. Catch the block word first and the number second.
Common mistake
The commonest mistake by far is mapping the number you hear straight onto the clock in the evening. สี่ทุ่ม is ten at night, not four in the afternoon. If you hear ทุ่ม, add six.
Next: Telling the time in Thai