นาที

Explanation

Its central meaning is a “minute,” a unit equal to 60 seconds. It follows a number directly, as in หนึ่งนาที (“one minute”) and สองนาที (“two minutes”); no additional classifier is normally needed. Placed after a verb, it can state how long an action lasts, as in รอสามนาที (“wait for three minutes”). อีกห้านาที means “in five more minutes,” ภายในสิบนาที means “within ten minutes,” and นาทีละ… means “per minute.” In expressions such as นาทีสุดท้าย (“the last moment”), it refers to a particular point in an event rather than an exact 60-second interval.

Usage

It is common when stating waiting times, travel or task duration, cooking and exercise times, and expected arrivals. News reports and sports commentary also use it to identify the moment or stage at which something happened.

Caution

When telling clock time, Thai follows its own time-telling patterns, so นาที is not necessarily placed after every minute number. For an indefinite “just a moment,” รอสักครู่ or รอแป๊บหนึ่ง is usually more natural than giving a duration with นาที.

1 minute synonyms

• สักครู่

  สักครู่ means “a short while” without specifying an exact duration. นาที is used when time is measured or stated in a specific number of minutes.

2 moment synonyms

• ขณะ

  khanà moment

  ขณะ broadly refers to a time or period during which something happens and commonly appears in ขณะที่… (“while…”). นาที puts more emphasis on a specific, often significant moment in an event.