Basic Thai Phrases | ประโยคง่ายๆ เริ่มเรียนกันเถอะ!

Dec 16, 20224 min read

Updated: Dec 17, 2022

If you're ready to start speaking, I guess the easiest thing to learn is how to talk about yourself! In this post, you'll find phrases and sentences that you can use in your first conversation. Let us begin!

First of all, let's look at how to say "I" and "you". Thai pronouns are very flexible and there are tons of them. This is something you'll get to learn along your journey. For now, let's go with the common formal ones:

ฉัน chăn is "I", for women. You will also hear it with a high tone (chán) as it's way easier to pronounce when you're speaking fast.
ผม pŏm is "I", for men.
คุณ kun is "you"

In Thai, we do use a lot of ending particles. They can be a pain, but they convey nuances that normal words can't. If you're a beginner, you don't have to worry about them yet. My advice would be to watch a lot of movies!

The ending particles that you'll see here are: ค่ะ kâ and ครับ kráp

ค่ะ kâ is for women. Although it's with a falling tone, native speakers would use say it with a low tone as it just sounds more natural that way.
ครับ kráp is for men. And just like with other words that contain a 'ร', native speakers don't really pronounce the 'ร'.

These endings make a phrase or sentence sound more polite. You can also use it to mean something like, yes, got it, ok.

Alrighty! are you ready????

1. สวัสดีค่ะ/ครับ คุณสบายดีไหม

sà-wàt-dee kâ/kráp (kun) sà-baai dee măi

As Thai pronouns are often omitted, you don't really have to say คุณ kun here.

Notice how this sentence is directly translated to: Hello! (You) are well? This is how you get an interrogative sentence (without a question word). You just add the 'ไหม măi' et voilà!

NOTE: Just like with 'ฉัน', 'ไหม' is easier to pronounce with a high tone.

2. ฉัน/ผมชื่อ ... คุณชื่ออะไร

chăn/pŏm chêu ... kun chêu à-rai

The word 'ชื่อ chêu' means 'name'. We used to use this word with the verb 'มี mee' which is 'to have'. The full sentence is: ฉันมีชื่อว่า... chăn mee chêu wâa (I have a name that is ...) Sounds a bit extra, doesn't it? So.. yea we're left with just: I/name/...

3. ฉัน/ผมมาจากประเทศ ...

chăn/pŏm maa jàak bprà-têt

มา maa = to come
จาก jàak = from
ประเทศ bprà-têt = country

4. ฉัน/ผมอยู่ที่...

chăn/pŏm yòo têe...

อยู่ yòo = to be, to live, to stay, to be located

We have 3 words for 'to be' and this 'อยู่ yòo' is used only with locations, and what you're currently doing (progressive tense)

ที่ têe = at, place, that, which, who

Notice how, in Thai, we say 'I live at...' rather than 'I live in ...'

5. ฉัน/ผมชอบ... คุณชอบ...ไหม

chăn/pŏm chôp ... kun chôp ...măi

Remember how we add 'ไหม măi' to turn a statement into a question? So here we just say: you like...?

The answer is not 'yes' or 'no', but 'like' or 'don't like'

6. ฉัน/ผมไม่ชอบ... คุณชอบ...ไหม

chăn/pŏm mâi chôp ... kun chôp ...măi

We just add 'mâi' in front of the given verb. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

7. คุณอยาก...ไหม kun yàak ... măi

Just like with 'do you like...?', the answer is not 'yes' or 'no', but 'want' or 'don't want'

ฉันอยากไปประเทศไทย chán yàak bpai bprà-têt tai = I want to go to Thailand!

8. ฉัน/ผมกำลัง...อยู่

chăn/ pŏm gam-lang...yòo

There are 4 ways to say this

just the verb itself
gam-lang + v
v + yòo
gam-lang + v + yòo

9. ฉัน/ผมมี...

chăn/ pŏm mee...

When you're talking about the amount of something, you'll have to use a classifier. This is a whole other topic. I'll give you an example just to get the idea.

To say, I have 2 friends, you'll have to know a classifier for people which is 'kon'. The structure for this is as follows:

N + number + classifier

That'd be: ฉันมีเพื่อนสองคน chăn mee pêuuan sŏng kon

I'll talk abut classifiers soon!

10. นี่คือ nêe keu...

Remember I told you there are 3 words for 'to be'?

'คือ keu' is one of them. We use this when we're introducing new information.

If you want to ask "what is this?", you can say "นี่คืออะไร nêe keu à-rai"

11. ขอโทษค่ะ/ครับ ฉัน/ผมไม่เข้าใจ ช่วยพูดอีกครั้งได้ไหม

kŏr tôht kâ/kráp · chăn/pŏm mâi kâo jai · chûuay pôot èek kráng dâai măi

'เข้าใจ kâo jai' is an interesting word. It means to understand. But let's break it down.

เข้า kâo = to enter
ใจ jai = heart, mind

So, เข้าใจ kâo jai literally means to enter the heart!

When you're making a request, you're basically asking someone to help you out. So, in Thai, we use the word 'ช่วย chûuay' which means to help at the beginning and we end our sentence with 'can?'. The structure is:

ช่วย ... ได้ไหม chûuay ... dâai măi