"Condition" - Usage

[jonnog]

Hi Everyone.I am fed up with loaning money to my sister-in-law. I want to say to her that I will loan on one condition only (that she repays in one lump sum). For the Thai word for "condition" in this sense should I use เงื่อนไข or ข้อแม้ (as in ผมมีเพียงหนึ่งเงื่อนไข... or ผมมีเพียงหนึ่งข้อแม้...)?

Or are they both correct????

Cheers

Edited June 1, 2011 by jonnog

[Peppy]

I would say they're both correct, in the sense that you could use either ข้อแม้ or เงื่อนไข to mean "condition". However, the grammar of your sentences is wrong. You can't count things directly in Thai: you need a classifier, in this case, ข้อ:

มีเงื่อนไขเพียงข้อเดียว

มีข้อแม้เีพียงข้อเดียว

("There is/I have just one condition.")

[troysantos]

Yeah. And the number one isn't usually placed before the noun. So you would say ข้อเดียว instead of หนึ่งข้อ or I think ข้อหนึ่ง would fly just as well.

[jonnog]

Cheers, guys. Not that my usage of เงื่อนไข and ข้อแม้ is likely to make any difference!!

I'm sure I'll still be repaid in bits and bobs over the next few months!!