Shangri Lingua

How to say “or” in Thai

หรือ

rǔe

/rɯ̌ː/

หรือ means or.

Pronunciation and usage

Tone: rising

This word joins two choices, and it also builds questions: rǔe yang at the end of a sentence means “or not yet?”. In everyday speech it’s often said quickly with a high tone.

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

  • กินข้าวหรือยัง

    gin kâao rǔe yang?/kin kʰâːw rɯ̌ː jaŋ/

    Have you eaten yet?

  • ไก่หรือหมู

    gài rǔe mǒo?/kàj rɯ̌ː mǔː/

    Chicken or pork?

How it’s spelled

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

  • ห

    Silent, and written only to change the tone: it makes the next letter follow high class rules.

    ho hip, from หีบ (chest)High class

    Like ท, with a small extra loop at the top of the right leg. Also silently raises the letter after it.

  • ร

    “r” is the sound that 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.

  •  ื

    The vowel “long ue”. Sits on top of the consonant.

    sara uee

    Like sara i, with two small strokes on the right.

  • อ

    Not heard. With no final consonant, this vowel takes a silent อ after 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.

Why the tone is rising

  1. The silent ห in front gives ร high class rules.
  2. There’s no tone mark, so the kind of syllable decides.
  3. It ends on a long vowel, which you can hold, so the syllable is live.
  4. High class and live gives a rising tone.

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

Learn to write it

The Shangri Lingua app has a Thai writing course that teaches every letter in this word. You write 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 basic words

Learn these words together in the lesson Have you eaten yet?, or browse all Thai vocabulary.