Shangri Lingua

How to say “follow” in Thai

ตาม

dtaam

/taːm/

ตาม means to follow.

Pronunciation and usage

Tone: mid

It also means “along” or “according to”. ตามสบาย (dtaam sà-baai) is a friendly “as you like” or “make yourself at home”.

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

  • หมาเดินตามเด็ก

    mǎa doen dtaam dèk/mǎː dɤːn taːm dèk/

    The dog follows the child.

How it’s spelled

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

  • ต

    “dt” starts the word.

    to tao, from เต่า (turtle)Mid class

    Same body as ด, with a notch in the top.

  • า

    The vowel “long a”. Written after the consonant.

    sara aa

    A hook over the top and a straight drop down.

  • ม

    “m” ends the word.

    mo ma, from ม้า (horse)Low class

    A loop at the top left, a second loop at the bottom left, and a W-shaped base. Compare น.

Why the tone is mid

  1. It starts with ต, which is mid class.
  2. There’s no tone mark, so the kind of syllable decides.
  3. It ends in “m”, a sound you can hold, so the syllable is live.
  4. Mid 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 ตาม 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 getting around

Browse all Thai vocabulary.