Shangri Lingua

How to say “plate” in Thai

จาน

jaan

/t͡ɕaːn/

จาน means plate, dish.

Pronunciation and usage

Tone: mid

It’s also how you count plates of food: ข้าวผัดสองจาน (kâao pàt sǒng jaan) is two plates of fried rice.

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

  • จานอยู่บนโต๊ะ

    jaan yòo bon dtó/t͡ɕaːn jùː bon tóʔ/

    The plate is on the table.

How it’s spelled

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

  • จ

    “j” starts the word.

    cho chan, from จาน (plate)Mid class

    Arches over the top and down the right, then curls back to a loop in the middle.

  • า

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

    sara aa

    A hook over the top and a straight drop down.

  • 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 จ, which is mid 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. 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 จาน 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 food and drink

Browse all Thai vocabulary.