djayz Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 What's the difference between อายุมาก, แก่ and เก่า? As far as I can tell, they all mean "old". Can they be used interchangeably? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ajaan Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 The first two can only be used in reference to living beings; the third one can only be used in reference to inanimate objects or abstract concepts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harrry Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 The first may be a little more polite. A little like how in the west we say Aged Care not Old Care. Not much in it though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LindsayBKK Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 (edited) อายุมาก http://www.thai2english.com/dictionary/1454239.html แก่ http://www.thai2english.com/dictionary/1274175.html เก่า http://www.thai2english.com/dictionary/1273639.html สูงอายุ - ถูกตอง http://www.thai2english.com/dictionary/1409322.html Edited March 3, 2014 by LindsayBKK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyG Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 The polite option here is สูงอายุ. อายุมาก isn't particularly common. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roel Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 The first two can only be used in reference to living beings; the third one can only be used in reference to inanimate objects or abstract concepts. I thought it is fairly common to refer to an ex-boy or girlfriend as แฟนเก่า Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kriswillems Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 (edited) The first two can only be used in reference to living beings; the third one can only be used in reference to inanimate objects or abstract concepts.I thought it is fairly common to refer to an ex-boy or girlfriend as แฟนเก่า Yes, but old doesn't mean "old age" here, it mean "ex" or "previous". In that context เก่า can be used with people. Edited March 3, 2014 by kriswillems Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 (edited) Although all those words mean "old" in English, they all have slightly different meanings in Thai. อายุมาก and แก่ means "old (age)" and is used for living things such as people and animals. อายุมาก is more polite than แก่ so for those who are unsure, always stick to อายุมาก to be on the safe side. เก่า means "old" as in "opposite of new" so this can be used with anything (including living things) to mean such as former/previous or something which is not new. Such as your old car, รถคันเก่า, ex-wife เมียเกา Then there's เก่าแก่ which also means "old age" but is used for non-living things and plants, such as veteran car รถเก่าแก่ or old tree ต้นไม้เก่าแก่ โบราณ is used for something very old (ancient) such as antiques วัตถุโบราณ Edited March 3, 2014 by Mole 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djayz Posted March 3, 2014 Author Share Posted March 3, 2014 Thanks for the feed back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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