Shangri Lingua

How to say “go out” in Thai

ออก

òk

/ʔɔ̀ːk/

ออก means to go out, to leave.

Pronunciation and usage

Tone: low

You’ll see this on signs, since ทางออก (taang òk) means “exit”. It also starts ออกกำลังกาย (òk-gam-lang-gaai), “to exercise”.

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

  • เขาออกจากบ้านแล้ว

    kǎo òk jàak bâan láew/kʰǎw ʔɔ̀ːk t͡ɕàːk bâːn lɛ́ːw/

    They’ve already left the house.

How it’s spelled

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

  • อ

    A silent starter: a syllable that begins with a vowel still needs a consonant to carry it.

    o ang, from อ่าง (basin)Mid class

    A closed egg shape with a small head inside at the top. Carries a vowel when a syllable starts with one.

  • อ

    Here อ is the vowel, like the “aw” in “saw”.

    o ang, from อ่าง (basin)Mid class

    A closed egg shape with a small head inside at the top. Carries a vowel when a syllable starts with one.

  • 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 low

  1. It starts with อ, which is mid 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. 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 teaches ออก 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.