Shangri Lingua

How to say “before” in Thai

ก่อน

gòn

/kɔ̀ːn/

ก่อน means before, first.

Pronunciation and usage

Tone: low

At the end of a sentence it means “first”: ไปก่อน (bpai gòn), “I’m heading off first”, is a common way to say goodbye.

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

  • อาบน้ำก่อนนอน

    àap-náam gòn non/ʔàːp.náːm kɔ̀ːn nɔːn/

    Take a shower before bed.

How it’s spelled

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

  • ก

    “g” starts the word.

    ko kai, from ไก่ (chicken)Mid class

    No loop at all: a beak at the top left and two legs. Compare ภ and ถ, which add a loop.

  •  ่

    Mai ek, a tone mark. It goes above the consonant.

    mai ek

    A single short vertical stroke.

  • อ

    Here อ is the vowel, like the “aw” in “saw”.

    o ang, from อ่าง (basin)Mid class

    A closed egg shape with a small head inside at the top. Carries a vowel when a syllable starts with one.

  • น

    “n” ends the word.

    no nu, from หนู (mouse)Low class

    A loop at the top left, ending in a small loop at the bottom right. Compare ม.

Why the tone is low

  1. It starts with ก, which is mid class.
  2. It has mai ek. Mid class with mai ek gives a low tone.

Mai ek doesn’t always mean one tone: it gives a low tone on mid and high class letters, and a falling tone on low class.

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

Learn to write it

The Shangri Lingua app teaches ก่อน 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 basic words

Browse all Thai vocabulary.