Breakdown of ฉัน มี เพื่อน ญี่ปุ่น หก คน ค่ะ
ค่ะ
polite particle (female)
มี
to have / there is / there are
ฉัน
I (female)
คน
person
เพื่อน
friend
ญี่ปุ่น
Japan
หก
six
Questions & Answers about ฉัน มี เพื่อน ญี่ปุ่น หก คน ค่ะ
Why does the number หก (six) come near the end of the sentence instead of before the noun?
In English, we say six friends (number + noun). In Thai, the counting pattern is noun + number + classifier. So to count your friends, you first state the noun เพื่อน (friend), then add any describing words like ญี่ปุ่น (Japanese), then the number หก (six), and finally the classifier คน.
What does the word คน do here?
By itself, คน means person. But here it acts as a classifier, which is a required counter word used when counting nouns. Thai uses คน as the classifier for counting people. You must include it right after the number.
Why is it เพื่อน ญี่ปุ่น (friend Japanese) instead of the other way around?
In Thai, describing words always come immediately after the noun they modify. Since ญี่ปุ่น (Japanese) describes the noun เพื่อน (friend), it must be placed right after it.
Thai doesn't have plural words, so how do we know it means friends instead of friend?
Thai nouns do not change form to show plurals, so you never add an s sound. The plural meaning is completely clear from the context because you are using a number greater than one (หก) along with its classifier.
How do we know the gender of the person speaking?
The speaker is female. We know this because she ends the sentence with ค่ะ, which is the polite particle used exclusively by women. She also uses the pronoun ฉัน (I), which is most often used by female speakers.
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