Shangri Lingua

How to say “beautiful” in Thai

สวย

sǔai

/sǔaj/

สวย means beautiful.

Pronunciation and usage

Tone: rising

Use this for women, places and things. A handsome man is หล่อ (lòr).

Reading the romanization: the mark over a vowel shows its tone. bp and dt are a p and a t with no puff of air, while plain p, t and k have the puff. The IPA shows the exact sounds, and Learn the IPA explains how to read it.

Examples

  • ดอกไม้นี้สวยมาก

    dòk-máai née sǔai mâak/dɔ̀ːk.máːj níː sǔaj mâːk/

    This flower is very beautiful.

How it’s spelled

Thai is written in a fixed order, which isn’t always the order you hear. Here’s each letter of สวย in the order you’d write it.

  • ส

    “s” starts the word.

    so suea, from เสือ (tiger)High class

    Like ล, with a flick at the top.

  • ว

    Here ว is part of the vowel “ua”.

    wo waen, from แหวน (ring)Low class

    A small arch curling over to the right, with a loop at the lower left.

  • ย

    “y” ends the word, and turns the vowel into “uai”.

    yo yak, from ยักษ์ (giant)Low class

    A loop at the top, an S-curve down the left, and a flat base.

Why the tone is rising

  1. It starts with ส, which is high class.
  2. There’s no tone mark, so the kind of syllable decides.
  3. It ends in “y”, a sound you can hold, so the syllable is live.
  4. High class and live gives a rising tone.

New to consonant classes and live or dead syllables? See how Thai tones work.

Learn to write it

The Shangri Lingua app teaches สวย in its Thai writing course. You write the word one letter at a time, with your finger or Apple Pencil, and the app checks each letter and gives you more help if you get stuck. Get it on the App Store.

More likes and feelings

Browse all Thai vocabulary.