Breakdown of ครู อายุ สาม สิบ ปี ค่ะ
ค่ะ
polite particle (female)
ครู
teacher
สาม
three
สิบ
ten
อายุ
age
ปี
year
Questions & Answers about ครู อายุ สาม สิบ ปี ค่ะ
Why doesn't this sentence use a word for "is"?
In Thai, you don't use a verb like "to be" (เป็น or คือ) to state someone's age. You just say the person, the word อายุ (age), the number, and then the unit ปี (years). Literally, this says "Teacher age three ten years."
How exactly does สามสิบ translate to "thirty"?
Thai numbers are very logical. To make multiples of ten, you just put the multiplier before the word for ten, สิบ. So, สาม (three) + สิบ (ten) simply makes "thirty".
If the teacher was thirty-one, would it be สามสิบหนึ่ง?
No! This is where the special rule you're learning comes in. Whenever a number greater than ten ends in one, the last digit changes to เอ็ด. So, thirty-one would be สามสิบเอ็ด.
Do I need to use the special word ยี่ if the teacher is thirty-two?
No, you would just use the normal word for two: สามสิบสอง. The special word ยี่ is only used when the "two" is in the tens place (meaning "twenty"), as in ยี่สิบ. It isn't used for the number two in the ones place.
Does the ค่ะ at the end mean the teacher is a woman?
Not necessarily! ค่ะ is a polite particle used by female speakers. The person saying this sentence is female, but the teacher (ครู) they are talking about could be a man or a woman.
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