Shangri LinguaHow to say “stylish” in Thai
เก๋
/kěː/
เก๋ means stylish.
Pronunciation and usage
Tone: rising
This is one of the few everyday words with mai chattawa, the rarest tone mark. It’s a good one to remember for that reason alone.
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
- ร้านนี้เก๋มาก
ráan née gǎy mâak/ráːn níː kěː mâːk/
This shop is very stylish.
How it’s spelled
Thai is written in a fixed order, which isn’t always the order you hear. Here’s each letter of เก๋ in the order you’d write it.
- เ
The vowel “ay”. Written first, but heard after the consonant.
sara e
One tall stroke with a small loop at the bottom. Compare แ.
- ก
“g” starts the word.
ko kai, from ไก่ (chicken)Mid class
No loop at all: a beak at the top left and two legs. Compare ภ and ถ, which add a loop.
- ๋
Mai chattawa, a tone mark. It goes above the consonant.
mai chattawa
A tiny plus sign.
Why the tone is rising
- It starts with ก, which is mid class.
- It has mai chattawa. Mid class with mai chattawa gives a rising tone.
Mai chattawa only goes on mid class letters, and always 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 teaches เก๋ 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 likes and feelings
Browse all Thai vocabulary.