Lesson 1: How Thai works
The big picture
- Thai has its own alphabet: 44 consonants, around 32 vowel forms, and 4 tone marks.
- It is written left to right, usually without spaces between words. Spaces mark the end of a phrase or sentence.
- Vowels can appear before, after, above, or below the consonant they belong to.
- Thai is tonal: the same syllable said with a different pitch is a different word.
- Grammar is friendly: no verb conjugation, no plurals, no articles (a, the).
Romanization used in this course
Romanization is only a bridge to the Thai script. This course uses:
| Symbol | Sounds like | Example |
|---|---|---|
k, t, p | unaspirated — like the k in “skip” (no puff of air) | ไก่ kài (chicken) |
kh, th, ph | aspirated — like English k, t, p (with a puff). ph is never “f”, th is never “th” in “the” | ไข่ khài (egg) |
j | between j and ch, unaspirated | จาน jaan (plate) |
ng | ng in “sing”, can start a word | งู nguu (snake) |
doubled vowel aa, ii, uu… | long vowel | มา maa (come) |
ue | like oo with spread lips (no English equivalent) | มือ muue (hand) |
ɔ | aw in “law” | พ่อ phɔ̂ɔ (father) |
ɛ | a in “cat” | แม่ mɛ̂ɛ (mother) |
oe | like u in “fur” | เธอ thoe (you/she) |
The 5 tones
Tone marks in the romanization show the pitch:
| Tone | Mark | Pitch | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mid | (none) | flat, normal voice | มา maa | come |
| Low | à | flat, lower | ใหม่ mài | new |
| Falling | â | high, then drops | ไม่ mâi | not |
| High | á | high, slightly rising | ม้า máa | horse |
| Rising | ǎ | dips low, then rises | หมา mǎa | dog |
Practice sentence: ไม้ใหม่ไม่ไหม้ไหม mái mài mâi mâi mǎi — “Doesn’t new wood burn?” Four nearly identical syllables, four different tones.
Exercise
Say each word five times, exaggerating the tone, then try them in a random order:
มา · หมา · ม้า · ไม่ · ใหม่
Next: Consonants →