Sawatdee ka,
As many of you know already that Thai language is a tonal language. When the tone change, the meaning of the word will be changed. There are many groups of words that have exactly the same phonemic sounds, and yet because of different tones express very different meanings. So, today I would like to show you common words that you can see or hear everyday.
5 Tones (Introduction)
Practice More
A.
เสื่อ sua (low tone) = mat
เสื้อ sua (falling) = shirt
เสือ sua (rising tone) = tiger
Try this!
เสือใส่เสื้อนั่งอยู่บนเสื่อ
/sŭea sài sûa nâng yùu bon sùa/
A tiger wearing a shirt is sitting on a mat.
B.
คาว kaao (middle tone) = fishy
ข่าว kaao (low tone) = news
ข้าว kaao (falling tone) = rice
ขาว kaao (rising tone) = white
Try this!
เขากินข้าวขาวแล้วก็ดูข่าว
/kăo gin kâao kăao léaw-gâw duu kàao/
He eats white rice and watches news.
C.
เข่า kao (low tone) = knees
เข้า kao (falling tone) = to enter
เค้า kao (high tone) = he/she, him/her (spoken language)
เขา kao (rising tone) = mountain or he/she, him/her (written language)
Try this!
เค้าขึ้นเขาแล้วเข่าแตกก็เลยเข้าคลินิก
/káo kûen kăo léaw kào dtàek gâw-loei kâo clinic/
He went up the mountain and broke his knees, so (he) entered the clinic.
* in Thai spoken language, to be admitted to the hospital or clinic, we use the verb ‘to enter’
I hope you had fun:)
Learn Thai Language From Home:
We offer online Thai group classes for all levels. You can start learning Thai from scratch or step up your Thai to speak Thai naturally and fluently like a native Thai speaker.
Price: Starts from 4,900 THB (Only 245 THB an hour)BOOK YOUR PLACE NOW: learnthaiwithmod@gmail.comCheck the current schedule: https://learnthaiwithmod.com/online-group-lessons/
I really liked this lesson, I’d like you to teach more examples like this please.
I love that you explain everything so perfectly, since I am Mexican and my native language is Spanish, I have to try a little harder to understand English, but you are very clear and precise, thank you very much.
Hi，Mod
Thank you very much for your great video, but I’m still confused between the short vowel and long vowel, is difficult to distinguish them, like the news and knees in Thai language. Would you mind waste your some time to explain it.
Thank you !
Sawatdee ka Jin, I am happy to hear that you found my videos useful in your Thai learning.
I can only explain that the long vowel sound is a pronounced a little longer than the short vowel sound. I understand that it is difficult to hear the difference in the beginning. I would like to suggest you to practice listening to Thai sounds more to train your ears to use to the Thai sounds. Here is another video that can help you with listening. https://learnthaiwithmod.com/2019/10/video-listen-better-speak-better/
Hi Mod,
many thanks for your always nice lessons.
But one question please: my wife told me, usually nobody uses the word เดา today. Why you don’t tell it is for practicing the tones only?
All the best
Klaus
Hi Klaus,
Thank you for your comment. I am not sure which word your wife mentioned that it is not used anymore. All words I use in the video are still used everyday. Could you clarify please?
Anyone know this one? “Kao chob kee maa`” he likes to ride a horse but if you change the tone slightly on the last word it changes the sentence completely to something much more rude.. does anyone know what this is????
ขี่ /kii pronounced with “low tone”/ = to ride, ขี้ /kii pronounced with “falling tone” = shit
ม้า /maa kii pronounced with “high tone”/ = horse, หมา /maa pronounced with “rising tone”/ = dog
So it could be เขาชอบขี้หมา = He likes dog’s shit.
Thank YOU Mod,
I love your videos and the way you teach ;))
Very grateful, I need to speak thai :))
Thank you for your kind comment. I am happy to hear that you found our lessons useful in your Thai learning. Keep practicing!
Sawatdee krap! Mod, I am slightly confused. You never explained what dtaek gaw-loei mean or maybe I just can’t figure it out. I have married a beautiful Thai female and I am learning to have better communication with her. Your lessons are a tremendous help for me. Thank you so much!!!
Waymon
Sawatdee ka Waymon,
Apologies for my late reply.
เข่าแตก kào dtàek –> เข่า kào (knee) แตก dtàek (break, broken)
ก็เลย gâw-loei = therefore
เค้าขึ้นเขา káo kûen kăo = he goes up the mountain
แล้วเข่าแตก láew kào dtàek = then got his knee broken
ก็เลยเข้าคลินิก gâw-loei kâo clinic = so he goes to a clinic
Hope this helps. 🙂
Hi dear Mod,
Thanks so much for your nice video, i love all of them, and more easy learn Thai from you.
PS: You look great!
This reminds me of the time I started speaking Thai with the wrong tones… I kept referring to my seniors as Pee (ghosts)…
Very helpful! Thank you!
omg!! this is the hardest part to say and to remember :O
i really like your outlook in this video cheers! 🙂
Kop Kun ja Rio:)
Hi Mod and thanks for the video about tones…it really does help.
mai bpen rai ka, yin dee ka:)
Yes, we love this site! End-of-term test is next week, for our Thai language class, and we appreciate any help we can get with pronunciation. 😉
Thanks so much for posting videos that are so clear and intuitive for learners. 😉
Sawatdee ka Lucas,
It is my pleasure. Good luck with your test. Choke-dee na ka:)
I have learned Thai is a monotone language and it does not have stress words;
Said that I mean tones are the key and the more you emphasize your mood the more you rise or lower your voice sound without changing the tones of the words.
The most difficult thing I find in my opinion is to understand the sequel logic of all the consecutive words in a phrase.
I’d love to hear the pronunciation 🙂 I was totally devistated, after being in Thailand for 7 months, when I had been mispronunciating the low and high tones! I’d always thought they were flat tones, no rising or decending. I must admit I have an incredibly hard time hearing the tones and always have to check the transliteration to make sure I’ve understood the tone correctly.
Sawatdee ka,
I am going to make a video showing the pronunciation soon. My computer is at the repair shop, so I can’t edit the video. I’ll get my machine back today.Please stay tune:)