Shangri Lingua

How to say “every” in Thai

ทุก

túk

/tʰúk/

ทุก means every.

Pronunciation and usage

Tone: high

This goes before the noun, the same order as in English: ทุกวัน (túk wan) is every day and ทุกคน (túk kon) is everyone.

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

  • ฉันออกกำลังกายทุกวัน

    chǎn òk-gam-lang-gaai túk wan/t͡ɕʰǎn ʔɔ̀ːk.kam.laŋ.kaːj tʰúk wan/

    I exercise every day.

How it’s spelled

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

  • ท

    “t” starts the word.

    tho thahan, from ทหาร (soldier)Low class

    A loop at the top left, a dip, and two legs. Compare ห.

  •  ุ

    The vowel “short u”. Hangs below the consonant.

    sara u

    A small hook below the line.

  • ก

    “k” ends 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.

Why the tone is high

  1. It starts with ท, which is low class.
  2. There’s no tone mark, so the kind of syllable decides.
  3. It ends in “k”, a sound that stops short, so the syllable is dead.
  4. Low class and dead depends on the vowel too. This one is short, which gives a high tone.

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

Learn to write it

The Shangri Lingua app teaches ทุก 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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Browse all Thai vocabulary.