Shangri Lingua

How to say “hot” in Thai

ร้อน

rón

/rɔ́ːn/

ร้อน means hot.

Pronunciation and usage

Tone: high

This is about temperature. Hot as in spicy is a different word, เผ็ด (pèt). ใจร้อน (jai rón), “hot heart”, means impatient.

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

  • วันนี้อากาศร้อนมาก

    wan-née aa-gàat rón mâak/wan.níː ʔaː.kàːt rɔ́ːn mâːk/

    It’s very hot today.

How it’s spelled

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

  • ร

    “r” starts the word.

    ro ruea, from เรือ (boat)Low class

    A wavy flag across the top, a drop down the right, and a small loop at the bottom.

  •  ้

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

    mai tho

    A small curve, like a tiny 2.

  • 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.

  • น

    “n” ends the word.

    no nu, from หนู (mouse)Low class

    A loop at the top left, ending in a small loop at the bottom right. Compare ม.

Why the tone is high

  1. It starts with ร, which is low class.
  2. It has mai tho. Low class with mai tho gives a high tone.

Mai tho doesn’t always mean one tone: it gives a falling tone on mid and high class letters, and a high 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 ร้อน 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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