What are YOUR Top Thai Phrases?
The Thai phrases you use most often…
Moving to a county with a new foreign language to tackle, I depend on two sure-fire phrases. The first phrase I learn is ‘I don’t understand’. And the second phrase is ‘this does not work’. I also practice my blank stare.
Why these three? Ok, I know from past experience that 1) something is going to break on my first day in any new country; and 2) I need someone else to do all the heavy language lifting; and 3) since I’m using their language, even if it’s ‘I don’t understand’, then they are not going to believe me and will start talking really fast until they take pause to admire my really brilliant blank stare.
So if you follow my instructions, eventually everything will be well in your foreign world too.
Hah! Well, let me know how that works out for you, ok?
The recent post about Andrew Biggs, Andrew Biggs on Twitter and Facebook, got me thinking about the phrases people use most often in Thailand. What I mean is, beyond the typical สวัสดี /sà-wàt-dee kha/ and all. And since you already know my two phrases, what I did was ask around. I asked those in the know to please pay attention to the Thai phrases they found themselves saying the most, and then send them to me.
Those I asked are from varied backgrounds, so there is sure to be something here for you: Thai, expat, men, women, single, married, students, teachers, employed, retired, moms, pops, and those in their thirties all the way up to grannies and grandpas. Nice.
Note: To see the transliteration in the Thai phrases below, roll your curser over the Thai script. If the Thai script is too small for you to read, use command + if on a Mac, and control + if on a PC. If you have a new MacBook Pro or similar, just flick your fingers across your track pad. And if none of those work, google is your friend.
Benjawan Becker…
Here are phrases that I often use. A lot of them are from Speak Like a Thai Volume 1.
- เดี๋ยวก่อน
Hold on! - ทำอะไรอยู่
What are you up to? - แป๊บนึง
Just one moment. - ไปก่อนนะ
I have to go now. - เดี๋ยวมา
I’ll be right back. - บอกแล้วไง
I told you so. - สมน้ำหน้า
It serves you right. - เสียเวลาจริงๆ
What a waste of time! - ไม่รวยก็สวยได้
You may not be rich, but you can be beautiful. - ไม่สวยก็รวยได้
You may not be beautiful, but you can be rich.
- แล้วเจอกัน
See you later. - แค่นี้นะ
That’s all for now. - รอไม่ไหวแล้ว
I can’t wait any longer. - แล้วแต่คุณ
It’s up to you. - อดไม่ได้
I can’t help it. - บ้ารึเปล่า
Are you crazy? - ทำได้ไง
How did you do it? - ไม่ได้ยิน
I can’t hear you. - แน่ นะ
Are you certain? - เป็นไปได้ยังไง
How can it be? - เดี๋ยวก็รู้
We shall see.
Benjawan Becker,
Paiboon Publishing | Phrase from: Speak Like a Thai Volume 1
On WLT: Interview: Benjawan Poomsan Becker | Learn Thai with Benjawan Poomsan Becker
Kaewmala…
Besides “Oscar, fetch the ball”, I’ve discovered that my top phrase is “ha ha ha ha” (my hubby makes me laugh). Here’s the third most uttered phrase by me (or if not in actuality, I fancy it is :)
ประมาณนั้น
Something like that.
(It’s a very “Bangkok” vernacular)
Kaewmala,
Thai Woman Talks – Language, Politics & Love | Thaisextalk.com
On WLT: Thai Sex Talk for St Valentine’s Day
Amy Praphantanathorn…
My angle on this project is child-centered Thai phrases, so I’ve included phrases said quite often to my son Aidan. Yes, these are simple little phrases, but they are honestly used around my house!
- รอเดี๋ยว
Slow down! - ห้ามตีลังกา
No doing somersaults. - จะทำอะไร
What are you going to do? - พ่อทำให้เอง
Daddy will do it for you. - อย่า เพิ่งอย่าเพิ่ง
Just wait!
- หลับสบายไม๊
Did you sleep well? - ได้เวลาใส่เสื้อผ้า
Time to get dressed. - ไปแปรงฟัน
Go brush your teeth. - เร็วๆหน่อย
Hurry up! - แป๊บนึง
Wait up!
Amy_Praphantanathorn,
The Expat Woman’s Guide to Living in Thailand
On WLT: Learning Thai with Thai Husband and Child | The Expat Women’s Guide to Bangkok
Luke Cassady-Dorion…
เออ
This is a very informal way to reply affirmatively to a question. While it is something that your teachers will tell you never to say, they likely say it with friends.
Example:
Q: พรุ่งนี้ไปดูหนังมั้ย
Do you want to see a movie tomorrow?
A: เออ
Sure.
(the more polite answer is ไปครับ)
ดูก่อน
Literally translates as “see before” which makes absolutely no sense. Instead, translate this entire expression to mean something like “let’s see, let me check, I’ll let you know”. It is a way of replying to an invitation and saying that you don’t know yet, but will let the person know when you finally decide. It can also be used when you want to reply in the negative but don’t want to offend the other person by directly turning down the invitation. It is often used if you just don’t feel like committing to something.
Example:
Q: พรุ่งนี้ไปดูหนังมั้ย
Do you want to see a movie tomorrow?
A: ดูก่อน
Let me see how I feel tomorrow…
เป็นคนที่…
Literally translates to mean “am person that” or “I am a person that” or something along those lines. Usage is relatively clear, it is just that we don’t have an expression like this in English. This expression is used pretty frequently to stress a detail about themselves.
Example:
Q: พรุ่งนี้ไปดูหนังมั้ย
Do you want to see a movie tomorrow?
A: ไปคะฉันเป็นคนที่ชอบดูหนังมาาาาาาาาก
Yes! I love watching movies.
More:
ขอโทษที่เมามากคืนก่อนผมเป็นคนที่คอเมาง่าย
Sorry I got drunk the other night, I tend to get drunk easily.
ไอเป็นคนที่ชอบใส่สีแสดงสดใส
I (using the informal English loanword) like wearing bright colors.
Luke Cassady-Dorion,
Goldenland Polygot | www.luke.org
On WLT: Interview: Luke Cassady-Dorion: Photographer and Linguist | Grokking the Thai Writing System Part 1: Consonants
Scott Earle…
อี๊อี๊
An equivalent of ‘Ewwww’.
คิดได้ยังไง
“How could you think that?”
บ้าหรอ
“Are you insane?”
บ่เป็นหยัง
Isaan/Lao equivalent of ไม่เป็นไร /mâi bpen rai/.
อิอิ
Cheeky laughter, “hehe”.
กรี๊ด
A sound representing astonishment/excitement/hysteria.
เอ๊าะ
Of a girl – young-looking. e.g. หน้าเอ๊าะ /nâa ór/ or simply เอ๊าะ ๆ /ór ór/.
เขิน
Embarrassed, e.g. from a compliment.
โ หย
Really really hungry.
แซ่บ
This is Thai and Lao. It means really delicious. Also can mean really delicious and extremely spicy. You see this in the names of a few shops (such as ‘yum sap’, the chain that sells very spicy Isaan food), and I am sure you’ve heard it before. If you want your som-tam really spicy you can say ‘phet’ until you’re blue in the face, but with the farang face you’re only ever getting it ‘quite spicy’. If you ask for it ‘saep-saep’ you’ll get it proper-spicy.
ไม่ไหว
Literally “not able”. “I’ve had enough, I can’t take any more”. Also, ไม่ไหวแล้ว is heard often.
I guess that means I need to find 9 more? Sigh.
Scott Earle
Scott’s website and blog
AjarnPasa…
As every good language learner knows the best way to learn is to practise in authentic, real life situations. Striking up a conversation out of nothing can be a bit tricky if you don’t know the cultural platitudes or small talk.
The few following phrases come in very handy, being the Thai equivalents of ‘How are you?’ or ‘What’s up?’, and the kind of small talk one engages in with new acquaintances. They are the natural way to precipitate the slide into deeper conversation, and of course that’s where the good stuff is.
While of course not all of these are appropriate with all people, I find myself using one or two of them at least when I meet a new person.
- กินข้าวหรือยัง
Have you eaten or not yet? - ไปไหน
Where are you going? - เป็นไงบ้าง
How’s things? - มีลูกหรือยัง
Do you have any children, or not yet? - แต่งงานหรือยัง
Are you married, or not yet?
- อายุเท่าไร
How old are you? - มาจาจังหวัดไหน
Which province do you come from? - บ้านอยู่ไหน
Where is your home? - อยู่แถวไหน
Which area do you live in? - ทำงานอะไร
What’s your work?
___________________
I have found that the other side of making the most of good, instructive conversation is to try where possible to convince your conversation partner that your Thai is better than it actually is. This way you are pushed out of your comfort zone and into your learning zone. To do this I throw in as many colloquialisms as I can naturally muster, as well as a few Thai back channel responses (Thai equivalents of the English ‘umms’ and ‘ahhs’), and those oh so abundant untranslatable particles.
ไม่เป็นไร
The colloquialism to end all colloquialisms!
อือ
like ‘Uhuh’
โอ้โห
Exclamatory interjection e.g. โอ้โห David Beckham วิ่งเร็วมาก: Wow! David Beckham runs fast.
ละ
a particle used to form questions (among others) e.g. แล้วคุณละ: And how about you?
นะ
a particle to soften a statement (maybe like asking “…OK?” after a making a command) e.g. อย่านะ: Don’t … just yet, OK?
สิ
a particle to add emphasis e.g. ไปสิ: Go!
เถอะ
a particle to add mild emphasis e.g. ไปกันเภิอะ : Let’s go!
ไง
a particle used to imply that the preceding statement is self evident e.g. นี่ไง: This one!
จ้า
a particle used instead of ครับ or คะ which is softer and less formal.
จ๋า
a particle used to sound affectionate when calling someone’s name.
N.B. All of these particles take on multiple meanings depending on context. I’ve mentioned just one for each. They all take lots of trial and error and careful listening to others’ use to get right.
AjarnPasa,
Tweet Yourself Thai | Twitter @AjarnPasa
Me (sort of)…
Below are more sentences from Andrew Biggs on Twitter. I chose these because (not) sleeping is always on my mind. And if you read through Andrew’s tweets, the subject of sleep is often in his thoughts as well.
- ฉันเหนื่อยสุดๆ
I’m exhausted. - จะนอนแล้ว
[I’m] going to sleep - นอนหลับฝันดี
Sweet dreams - ขอ ให้หายเร็วๆค่ะ
Get well soon.
- เพิ่งตื่น
I just woke up. - เมื่อคืนฉันหลับสนิท
Last night I slept like a log. - ฉันนอนหลับปกติดีขึ้น
I am sleeping better. - วันนี้ฉันตื่นสาย
Today I woke up late.
___________________
Btw, the general purpose Thai phrase for ‘this doesn’t work’ is นี่ใช้ไม่ได้. The Thai phrase for ‘I don’t understand’ is ไม่เข้าใจ. Both are invaluable phrases one cannot live without in any country (even your own). Now about that blank stare… heh.
Enjoy…
didn’t want to be the first to comment.
my favourites come from work – three of us need to closely cooperate for 9-10 hours a day, each decision involves at least two people.
so, “arai k’dai” (whatever, up to you) can drive people up the wall and is absolutely not permitted but of course said all the time when someone is too tired to make a decision or just wants to tease the others.
“nueay ja taai” (very tired) is a personal favourite (note those 10 hours at work).
sorry about lack of Thai letters. too tired to spend five mins finding all the right keys.
Welcome Betti! And thanks for your two phrases. Being tired after ten hour shifts is understandable (and I soooo remember those days). It’s almost 11 out here, so unless someone beats me to it I’ll get the script for your phrases in the morning. Happy weekend!
.-= Catherine´s last blog ..What are YOUR Top Thai Phrases =-.
Catherine at this rate I may have to bill you for a new ink cartridge for my printer. Thankfully I do have lots of paper (not sure where it all came from).This post is a gem.
I loaded the printer with paper and off it went….suddenly a thought entered my head.
“Sh*t, it’s not going to print the roll over transliteration…oh well.”
This post is fantastic to someone like me because some of the phrases are one’s I will use time and time again. I think it would have taken years to have learned them and yet here they are in one brill post.
I’ll get over the transliteration by writing the one’s in I consider most useful to me….tam a-rai yoo? has gone straight in, that’s a good opener on the phone.
Fantastic and a more than useful lesson in learning some basic but needy Thai language small talk.
Morning Martyn. Apologies, I didn’t think about not being able to print the transliteration. To make up for it, this weekend I’ll create a word doc with transliteration to download. But please remember that the tone markers are not exact, ok? I grab it from T2E and do not dress it up from there.
Tip: To get phrases with sound and the works, Benjawan’s CD is all inclusive.
.-= Catherine´s last blog ..What are YOUR Top Thai Phrases =-.
เอ… (Eh… or Um…) I’m definitely a person that gets a lot of use from eh. I noticed that a couple phrases from above haven’t got the Thai touch yet:
Betti:
อะไรก็ได้ (aray gaw day)
เหนื่อยจะตาย (nueay ja dtaai)
Martyn:
ทำอะไรอยู่ (tam aray yoo)
Sorry, I suck at this. I’m just going to put a number after the transliteration to tell of the tone: 1-middle 2-low 3-falling…
Various:
ไอ้บ้าเอ๊ย (aai3 baa3 óie4) – shit, damnit (impolite way to express frustration when we make an error or when others make us frustrated); I say it when I’m alone.
จริงด้วย (jing1 duay3) – true, that’s true, good point (something like that)
จริงดิ (jing1 di2) – really?! (จริงเหรอ (jing1 lor5)); I’ve heard it mostly used by younger people in the city
อะไรของพี่ (aray1 khawng5 pee3) – what you are you talking about or what’s up with you (in response to “crazy talk” from the person you are talking to — the example is with an older person)
นั่งก่อนไหม (nung3 gawn2 mai4) – have a seat, would you like to sit?
จอดบ้ายหน้าด้วยนะครับ (jawt2 baai3 naa3 duay3 na4 khap4) – please stop at the next (bus) station (I use it while riding in those mini-van things)
โทษที (tôht3 tee1) – sorry (pretty informally)
แค่นี้นะ (kâe3 nee4 na4) – (on the phone) let’s call it a conversation, that’s all for now
บ๊ายบาย (baai4 baai1) – bye-bye (another one from the kids)
Christopher, Thanks for adding the Thai bits (it’s before 9am and I’m still not awake yet). Fabulous. I use จริงเหรอ all the time (crazy that I didn’t think to add it in). Like you, I don’t cuss out loud, but I do mutter darkly under my breath (not strong words, but said with real meaning).
By the way, very good post, Catherine; it has me thinking about all the funny stuff I hear around. I think we download a lot of information that is available if we search for it, yet most of the time I find myself just marching straight trying to download new information. Thank you for bringing this about.
I know I’m the most annoying sort of commenter, but I had one other thought. When you render a Thai person speechless with your fabulous Thai (which is probably pretty often, eh?), you could say:
อ้ำอึ้งทำไมเนี่ย (am3 êung3 tam-mai1 nia3) – why are you all speechless?
Ok, I’ll be silent for a while. When you get a chance, folks, type up some more stuff. I’m curious about what other people use on the daily.
Thanks,
Christopher
Christopher, one of my reasons for starting this post is to see if I could extract real Thai from contributors and readers.
Like other sporadic Thai students, I’ve (embarrassingly) taken on a few bits of expat Thai. In addition, on the fly I’ve created phrases only Shakespeare would say. So if I’m amazing anyone at all… heh…
When I asked Thais why they don’t correct expats, some come back with 1) We can understand you 2) We expect foreigners to speak Thai that way.
And that explanation seems to stand for a few of the courses you see around as well. Someone will tell their staff to create an equivalent Thai phrase for an English one. As you know, there are times when there are no equivalents, but that does not stop anyone from cobbling something together that no Thai would say. To further confuse, there are expat phrases that Thais are now sporting.
On a side note: Thais don’t inject ดีฉัน/ฉัน and such at the beginning of every sentence. I automatically discount it after typing it in, and then forget to mention that point to readers. Sure, it was brought up in early posts… so my only real excuse is that I’m lazy.
PS: You are not an annoying commenter. Not even close :-)
I found the particles to be quite interesting. I hear my son and husband using si, la and ngai quite often and now I understand their meanings better.
.-= Amy P.´s last blog ..Smile@Ratchaprasong =-.
Good morning Amy :-) it’s the little touches that ease us into a language. It also makes us sound more fluent (which can be good as well as bad).
Cat, as Martyn said this is a brilliant post and why you keep many of us coming back time and again. I too have printed this out and will definitely be coming in handy…and very soon as I booked my flights today!
Talen, fabulous that you’ve booked your flights to Thailand! After all this time, you must be walking on air :-)
.-= Catherine´s last blog ..What are YOUR Top Thai Phrases =-.
กินไอติมป๊ะ (gin ai dteem bpa) Shall we eat ice cream?
ไอติม = ไอศกรีม (ai dteem = ai sa greem) Ice Cream
ป๊ะ = ไหม, หรือเปล่า (bpa = mai, ruu blao)
I don’t know, who doesn’t love ice cream?
Oh, one more thing. Several months ago, while on my way home from work, a woman in the neighborhood who had shown, um, an interest (ปลื้ม – bplêum, to crush (on someone); this is a word that in the dictionary, you only get the usage from 1950) asked a question. I thought it to be sort of heartwarming; as I thought about it more, I thought it to be a rather important lesson in particle usage. Really, try to say it:
คริสจ๋า วันนี้จ้ะ ไปไหนมาจ๊ะ (keet4 jaaaa5\ wan1 nee4 ja3 \ bpai1 nai5 maa1 jaa4)
Chris, where have you been today?
จ๋า (jaaa5) I think we should call this “the particle of affection and affectionate tone.” As far as my experience with it goes, it used for addressing someone, well, that you have affection for: a mom to a child, a lover to a lover, a crusher to the crushed…
Christopher
Hi Chris, not having a Thai other, I don’t have a lot of sugar words on hand. So thanks for this one as it can be used for others as well. Kaewmala’s book is loaded with sweet goodies, so I should reread it soon.
Not that it is important, but I thought I would mention that I am also a person without a Thai other. I am only a person with Thai friends in the midst of love and the opposite of love; neighbors with somewhat long distance crushes or the opposite of crushes; and old folks who never stop asking about whether or not I’ve met someone, and never stop accusing me about hiding the fact that I’ve someone.
สู้ๆ นะเพื่อน (suu suu na peuan — sorry that’s terrible translit.)
Christopher, I’m smiling because that’s so like older people everywhere I go. And it’s one trait that I’ll watch when I get to a certain age as well – the fascination with the young (their tangled love lives mostly). Already with my son I hold my questions at arms length because I remember back when my mother would dig and dig and dig (she still does, only slower).
.-= Catherine Wentworth´s last blog ..How Mindfulness Can Help You Learn Thai =-.
I’m feeling baddddd. Sorry it took me long to return, Cat. Having seen others’ useful lists of phrases I now realize how lazy I was. :) Isn’t this strange? A native speaker and I have a hard time coming up with a good list of often uttered phrases. Maybe I live too much in my head and not through my vocal cord. :)
I swear I did come up with 2 good phrases this morning and now I can’t remember what they are! Drat! It’s a miracle how I get through the day among my fellow Thais. Oh, oh, one just came to me right now: กำลัง… /kam-lang/ meaning “about to…[insert verb - or not].” (leaving off a verb will make the expression sometimes conveniently vague, as you’ll see)
Scenario: After 20 minutes of waiting for the dear wife, the properly-dressed-for-dinner husband is anxious to leave the house.
Husband: “Are you done putting on make-up? We’re running late!”
Wife: “ใกล้เสร็จแล้วจ้า อีกห้านาที!” /klai ja set laew jaa, eek haa naa tee/ (Almost done. Five more minutes!)
Husband: “You’ve been saying that for the last 20 minutes! Come on, let’s get going.”
Then he walks off to the garage and hollers: “Are you coming?”
Wife: กำลัง กำลัง /kam-lang, kam-lang/, while drawing her second eyebrow at the lighting speed.
I swear this has never happened to me personally (really, I never draw my eyebrows). :)
.-= kaewmala´s last blog ..“Play” in Thai Idioms – Part 3- Erotic Play =-.
Hi Kaewmala, I thought your one phrase was absolutely fabulous (and funny as well). And now you’ve come up with another I’m going to get a lot of use out of, so thank you :-)