Shangri Lingua

How to say “shop” in Thai

ร้าน

ráan

/ráːn/

ร้าน means shop.

Pronunciation and usage

Tone: high

This starts the names of most kinds of business: ร้านอาหาร (ráan aa-hǎan) is a restaurant and ร้านกาแฟ (ráan gaa-fae) is a coffee shop.

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

  • ร้านนี้ปิดวันจันทร์

    ráan née bpìt wan jan/ráːn níː pìt wan t͡ɕan/

    This shop is closed on Mondays.

How it’s spelled

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

  • 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 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 ร้าน 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.