Learn Thai Classifiers and Core Grammar Words: 60 Flashcards with the Counting Formula
Learn 20 Thai classifiers (khon, tua, khan, lem) and 40 core grammar words with the noun + number + classifier formula, corrected glosses and tone tips.
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Thai has no plural endings and no articles. To count anything you need a classifier (ลักษณนาม), and that is where most learners stall. The Flip It deck Thai Classifiers & Grammar (OF8717) has 60 cards: 20 classifiers in cards 1-20, then 40 high-frequency grammar words such as pronouns, question words, modals and conjunctions. Here is how to turn that list into Thai you can actually say.
Study this deck: Thai Classifiers & Grammar
1 / 10Classifier for people
Tap the card for the answer · swipe right if you knew it, left if not
The formula the deck never states
Every classifier card follows one pattern, but the deck never spells it out. Write it on a card of your own first:
noun + number + classifier → หมา สอง ตัว (maa song tua, "two dogs"), รถ สาม คัน (rot saam khan, "three cars").
The same slot comes back with demonstratives and with "which": หนังสือ เล่ม นี้ (this book), คน ไหน (which person?). Cards 28-30 (นี่, นั่น, ไหน) only make sense once you see them next to a classifier.
Sample cards
| Front | Back | Romanization |
|---|---|---|
| Classifier for people | คน | khon |
| Classifier for animals | ตัว | tua |
| Classifier for vehicles | คัน | khan |
| Classifier for monks, priests | รูป | rup |
| Classifier for fruit (round) | ลูก | luk |
| Classifier for letters, messages | ฉบับ | chabap |
| Already / Perfective aspect | แล้ว | laeo |
| Will / Future marker | จะ | cha |
| Can / Able to | ได้ | dai |
| How much/many? | เท่าไร | thaorai |
Everything the deck covers
Classifiers: คน, ตัว (animals and shirts), อัน, เล่ม, ผืน, คัน, หลัง, รูป, คู่, ลูก, ดอก, ต้น, ขวด, แก้ว, จาน, ด้าม, ฉบับ, เรื่อง, คำ. Pronouns: ผม, ดิฉัน, ฉัน, คุณ, เขา, เรา, พวกเขา. Question words: อะไร, ใคร, ที่ไหน, เมื่อไร, ทำไม, ยังไง, เท่าไร. Verbs and markers: เป็น vs มี, ไม่, แล้ว, จะ, ได้, อยาก, ต้อง, ควร. Linkers: ที่, จาก, ให้, กับ, และ, หรือ, แต่, เพราะ, ถ้า, มาก, นิดหน่อย, ด้วย.
Study tips for this deck
- Fix four glosses. ครับ / ค่ะ (cards 38-39) are polite particles you put at the end of almost any sentence, male and female. They are not really "yes", which is ใช่. ผืน (card 5) is for cloth, rugs and towels, while a sheet of paper takes แผ่น (phaen). ขวด (card 14) covers bottles only, and a can is กระป๋อง (krapong). ยังไง is the spoken form of อย่างไร, which you will see in writing.
- Add the tones yourself. The romanization has no tone marks, so khao (เขา, he/she) and khao (ข้าว, rice) look the same. Play the audio and write a tone mark in each card's hint.
- Practice with numbers, not translations. Before revealing a classifier card, say one full phrase out loud with a number: แมว หนึ่ง ตัว, เสื้อ สอง ตัว. ตัว appears twice in the deck, for animals and for shirts. That is useful, because it shows classifiers sort things by shape, not by meaning.
Once the classifiers stick, go back over core vocabulary with our guide to Thai Top 100 Essential Words.
Find the deck OF8717 — Thai Classifiers & Grammar in the Flip It library.
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