← Lao lessons
🇱🇦
Lesson 4 of 10

Counting to ten in Lao

One to ten, for prices, platforms, rooms and how many beers. Play the ten Lao words against the clock, with a note on how locals really use each one after every answer. All ten are written out below.

The landscape seen from Wat Phu towards the Mekong in Laos
Counting to ten
10 words · 20 seconds each · 8 of 10 to pass
What it meansHow to say it
Mattun0211, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

All 10 Lao phrases in this lesson

ໜຶ່ງneung
One
ສອງSONG
Two

Used for counting and also in everyday phrases. No gender distinction or noun-dependent variation like in some languages.

ສາມSAM
Three

Part of the basic count. The phonetic parallels to other Tai languages are strong, which helps if you have prior exposure to Thai or Shan.

ສີ່SEE
Four
ຫ້າha
Five
ຫົກhok
Six
ເຈັດjet
Seven
ແປດpaet
Eight
ເກົ້າkao
Nine
ສິບSIP
Ten

Twenty is ຊາວ (SAO), thirty is ສາມສິບ (three-tens), forty ສີ່ສິບ (four-tens). The system stays logical throughout, a real advantage for learners.

Where Lao is spoken

Next lesson: Shops and hotels →