Shangri Lingua

How to say “duck” in Thai

เป็ด

bpèt

/pèt/

เป็ด means duck.

Pronunciation and usage

Tone: low

Say this with no puff of air on the p. With the puff it becomes pèt, “spicy”, in the same low tone.

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

  • เป็ดย่าง

    bpèt yâang/pèt jâːŋ/

    Roast duck.

  • ข้าวหน้าเป็ด

    kâao nâa bpèt/kʰâːw nâː pèt/

    Roast duck on rice.

How it’s spelled

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

  • ป

    “bp” starts the word.

    po pla, from ปลา (fish)Mid class

    Same as บ, but the right side rises tall.

  •  ็

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

    mai taikhu

    A small figure, like a tiny 8.

  • ด

    “t” ends the word.

    do dek, from เด็ก (child)Mid class

    A rounded top, with the line curling back inside at the top left. Compare ต.

Why the tone is low

  1. It starts with ป, which is mid class.
  2. There’s no tone mark, so the kind of syllable decides.
  3. It ends in “t”, a sound that stops short, so the syllable is dead.
  4. Mid class and dead gives a low tone.

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

Learn to write it

The Shangri Lingua app has a Thai writing course that teaches every letter in this word. You write 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 meats

Learn these words together in the lesson Have you eaten yet?, or browse all Thai vocabulary.