Shangri LinguaHow to say “speak” in Thai
พูด
/pʰûːt/
พูด means to speak.
Pronunciation and usage
Tone: falling
A phrase worth learning early is พูดช้า ๆ (pôot cháa cháa), “speak slowly”. The small ๆ means the word before it is said twice.
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
- คุณพูดภาษาไทยได้ไหม
kun pôot paa-sǎa tai dâi mái?/kʰun pʰûːt pʰaː.sǎː tʰaj dâːj máj/
Can you speak Thai?
How it’s spelled
Thai is written in a fixed order, which isn’t always the order you hear. Here’s each letter of พูด in the order you’d write it.
- พ
“p” starts the word.
pho phan, from พาน (tray)Low class
A loop outside the top of the stem, and a W that rises high. Compare ผ.
- ู
The vowel “long u”. Hangs below the consonant.
sara uu
Like sara u, with a loop added.
- ด
“t” ends the word.
do dek, from เด็ก (child)Mid class
A rounded top, with the line curling back inside at the top left. Compare ต.
Why the tone is falling
- It starts with พ, which is low class.
- There’s no tone mark, so the kind of syllable decides.
- It ends in “t”, a sound that stops short, so the syllable is dead.
- Low class and dead depends on the vowel too. This one is long, which gives a falling tone.
New to consonant classes and live or dead syllables? See how Thai tones work.
Learn to write it
The Shangri Lingua app teaches พูด 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 language
Browse all Thai vocabulary.