Shangri Lingua

How to say “egg” in Thai

ไข่

kài

/kʰàj/

ไข่ means egg.

Pronunciation and usage

Tone: low

Don’t confuse this with ไก่ (gài), “chicken”. The tone is the same, and only the puff of air on the k tells them apart.

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

  • ฉันกินไข่ทุกเช้า

    chǎn gin kài túk cháao/t͡ɕʰǎn kin kʰàj tʰúk t͡ɕʰáːw/

    I eat eggs every morning.

How it’s spelled

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

  • ไ

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

    sara ai mai malai

    Tall, with a wave across the top. Compare ใ.

  • ข

    “k” starts the word.

    kho khai, from ไข่ (egg)High class

    A loop at the top left, a rounded base, and open at the top right.

  •  ่

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

    mai ek

    A single short vertical stroke.

Why the tone is low

  1. It starts with ข, which is high class.
  2. It has mai ek. High 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 ไข่ 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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