Shangri Lingua

How to say “teacher” in Thai

ครู

kroo

/kʰruː/

ครู means teacher.

Pronunciation and usage

Tone: mid

This comes from the same Sanskrit word as “guru”. University lecturers are usually called อาจารย์ (aa-jaan) instead.

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

  • ครูพูดภาษาไทย

    kroo pôot paa-sǎa tai/kʰruː pʰûːt pʰaː.sǎː tʰaj/

    The teacher speaks 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 ครู in the order you’d write it.

  • ค

    “k” starts the word.

    kho khwai, from ควาย (buffalo)Low class

    A rounded top, with the head curling inside at the top left, and two legs.

  • ร

    “r” joins the ค, so the word starts “kr”.

    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.

  •  ู

    The vowel “long u”. Hangs below the consonant.

    sara uu

    Like sara u, with a loop added.

Why the tone is mid

  1. It starts with ค, which is low class.
  2. There’s no tone mark, so the kind of syllable decides.
  3. It ends on a long vowel, which you can hold, so the syllable is live.
  4. Low class and live gives a mid tone.

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

Learn to write it

The Shangri Lingua app teaches ครู 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.

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