Shangri Lingua

How to say “cool” in Thai

เย็น

yen

/jen/

เย็น means cool, cold, evening.

Pronunciation and usage

Tone: mid

This means cool or cold to the touch, and also the evening. ใจเย็น (jai yen), “cool heart”, means staying calm.

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

  • น้ำนี้เย็นมาก

    náam née yen mâak/náːm níː jen mâːk/

    This water is very cold.

How it’s spelled

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

  • เ

    The vowel “ay”. Written first, but heard after the consonant.

    sara e

    One tall stroke with a small loop at the bottom. Compare แ.

  • ย

    “y” starts the word.

    yo yak, from ยักษ์ (giant)Low class

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

  •  ็

    Makes เ short: “e” instead of “ay”.

    mai taikhu

    A small figure, like a tiny 8.

  • 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 mid

  1. It starts with ย, which is low class.
  2. There’s no tone mark, so the kind of syllable decides.
  3. It ends in “n”, a sound you can hold, so the syllable is live.
  4. Low class and live gives a mid tone.

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

Learn to write it

The Shangri Lingua app teaches เย็น 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.

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