Shangri Lingua

How to say “water” in Thai

น้ำ

náam

/náːm/

น้ำ means water, liquid.

Pronunciation and usage

Tone: high

This covers water and most other liquids, so it starts many words: น้ำส้ม (náam sôm) is orange juice and น้ำปลา (náam bplaa) is fish sauce.

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

  • ขอน้ำหนึ่งแก้ว

    kǒr náam nùeng gâew/kʰɔ̌ː náːm nɯ̀ŋ kɛ̂ːw/

    A glass of water, please.

How it’s spelled

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

  • น

    “n” starts 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.

  •  ้

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

    mai tho

    A small curve, like a tiny 2.

  • ำ

    The vowel “am”. Written after the consonant, with its ring above.

    sara am

    A small ring above and า next to it, as a single letter.

ำ is normally short, but this everyday word is said with a long vowel: náam.

Why the tone is high

  1. It starts with น, which is low class.
  2. It has mai tho. Low class with mai tho gives a high tone.

Mai tho doesn’t always mean one tone: it gives a falling tone on mid and high class letters, and a high tone on low class.

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

Learn to write it

The Shangri Lingua app teaches น้ำ 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 food and drink

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