Shangri Lingua

How to say “table” in Thai

โต๊ะ

dtó

/tóʔ/

โต๊ะ means table.

Pronunciation and usage

Tone: high

This word came into Thai from Chinese, and it uses mai tri, the tone mark that mostly shows up in loanwords.

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

  • หนังสืออยู่บนโต๊ะ

    nǎng-sǔe yòo bon dtó/nǎŋ.sɯ̌ː jùː bon tóʔ/

    The book 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 โต๊ะ in the order you’d write it.

  • โ

    Part of the vowel “oh”. Written first, but heard after the consonant.

    sara o

    Tall, with a curved flag on top.

  • ต

    “dt” starts the word.

    to tao, from เต่า (turtle)Mid class

    Same body as ด, with a notch in the top.

  •  ๊

    Mai tri, a tone mark. It goes above the consonant.

    mai tri

    A small wavy line, wider than mai tho.

  • ะ

    Makes the โ vowel short.

    sara a

    Two small curls, one stacked on the other.

Why the tone is high

  1. It starts with ต, which is mid class.
  2. It has mai tri. Mid class with mai tri gives a high tone.

Mai tri only goes on mid class letters, and always gives a high tone.

New to consonant classes and live or dead syllables? See how Thai tones work.

Learn to write it

The Shangri Lingua app teaches โต๊ะ 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 places and things

Browse all Thai vocabulary.