Shangri Lingua

How to say “sweet” in Thai

หวาน

wǎan

/wǎːn/

หวาน means sweet.

Pronunciation and usage

Tone: rising

Thai drinks are often very sweet, so this is a useful word at any coffee stall. Ask for wǎan nói if you’d like less sugar.

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

  • หวานน้อย

    wǎan nói/wǎːn nɔ́ːj/

    Less sweet.

  • ไม่หวาน

    mâi wǎan/mâj wǎːn/

    Not sweet.

How it’s spelled

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

  • ว

    “w” is the sound that starts the word.

    wo waen, from แหวน (ring)Low class

    A small arch curling over to the right, with a loop at the lower left.

  • 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 rising

  1. The silent ห in front gives ว high class rules.
  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. 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 tastes

  • เผ็ด

    pèt/pʰèt/

    spicy

  • เปรี้ยว

    bprîao/prîaw/

    sour

  • เค็ม

    kem/kʰem/

    salty

  • อร่อย

    à-ròi/ʔà.rɔ̀ːj/

    delicious

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