ชั่วโมง
chûua-moong/t͡ɕʰua̯˥˩.moːŋ˧/
The English phrase "hours" is translated into Thai as ชั่วโมง (chûua-moong).
ชั่วโมง is used to refer to a unit of time equal to sixty minutes, representing a duration.
Which one should you use?
While ชั่วโมง refers to a duration of sixty minutes, the word โมง (moong) is used specifically when referring to the time on a clock, such as saying "it is 3 o'clock".
How does it change in a sentence?
The word ชั่วโมง is used as a classifier for hours and does not change its form for pluralization.
How do you pronounce it?
The pronunciation is chûua-moong. It has 2 syllables.
Did you know?
- The component ชั่ว in ชั่วโมง is also found in the word ชั่วร้าย, which means 'evil' or 'bad', though the meanings are entirely unrelated in this context.
- The word for 'hour' contains a component, โมง, which is a linguistic fossil from an era when time was announced by the rhythmic striking of a drum or gong.
- While ชั่วโมง is the standard word for duration, Thai has an entirely different system for telling the time of day that uses specific words for morning, afternoon and night.
Examples in context
- ผมมาสายสามชั่วโมงI was three hours late.This sentence is useful for practicing the use of ชั่วโมง when stating how many hours late someone was.Tatoeba #10469420 by Somsak, translation #6271539 by CK
- ทอมให้ผมรอสามชั่วโมงTom kept me waiting for three hours.This sentence is useful for practicing the use of ชั่วโมง when describing how long someone was kept waiting.Tatoeba #10264956 by Somsak, translation #2641456 by CK
- งานนี้ใช้เวลาสามชั่วโมงThis task took three hours.This sentence is useful for practicing the use of ชั่วโมง when stating how much time a task took.Tatoeba #10116246 by Somsak, translation #59133 by Eldad
- 6 โมงเย็น6 in the evening
- 9 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
A man and a woman are talking about a long flight.
- ณิชา Nichaเที่ยวบินนี้ใช้กี่ชั่วโมงคะ?thiao bin ni chai ki chuamong kha?How many hours does this flight take?
- วิทวัส Witthawatใช้เวลาประมาณสิบชั่วโมงครับchai wela praman sip chuamong khrapIt takes about ten hours.
- ณิชา Nichaนานมากเลยนะคะnan mak loei na khaThat is a very long time.
- วิทวัส Witthawatใช่ครับ แต่เครื่องบินลำใหญ่ครับchai khrap, tae khrueang bin lam yai khrapYes, but it is a large plane.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry ชั่วโมง, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
