Shangri Lingua

How to say “money” in Thai

เงิน

ngoen

/ŋɤn/

เงิน means money.

Pronunciation and usage

Tone: mid

This word also means silver. The vowel has no close English match: it’s a little like the “u” in “burn”, without the r.

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

  • ฉันไม่มีเงิน

    chǎn mâi mee ngoen/t͡ɕʰǎn mâj miː ŋɤn/

    I don’t have any money.

How it’s spelled

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

  • เ

    Part of the vowel “oe”. Written first, but heard after the consonant.

    sara e

    One tall stroke with a small loop at the bottom. Compare แ.

  • ง

    “ng” starts the word.

    ngo ngu, from งู (snake)Low class

    Compact: a loop at the middle left, a line running down to the foot, then straight up the right.

  •  ิ

    Together with เ, this makes the vowel “oe”.

    sara i

    A low dome, closed along the bottom.

  • 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 mid

  1. It starts with ง, which is low class.
  2. There’s no tone mark, so the kind of syllable decides.
  3. It ends in “n”, a sound you can hold, so the syllable is live.
  4. Low 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 เงิน 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 shopping and money

Browse all Thai vocabulary.