Shangri Lingua

How to say “yet” in Thai

ยัง

yang

/jaŋ/

ยัง means yet, still.

Pronunciation and usage

Tone: mid

On its own, this word is a complete answer meaning “not yet”. Placed before another word, it means “still”.

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

  • ยัง

    yang/jaŋ/

    Not yet.

  • ยังไม่ได้กิน

    yang mâi dâi gin/jaŋ mâj dâːj kin/

    I haven’t eaten yet.

  • ยังหิว

    yang hǐu/jaŋ hǐw/

    I’m still hungry.

How it’s spelled

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

  • ย

    “y” starts the word.

    yo yak, from ยักษ์ (giant)Low class

    A loop at the top, an S-curve down the left, and a flat base.

  •  ั

    The vowel “short a”. Sits on top, when a final consonant follows, as in รัก.

    mai han akat

    A small loop with a stroke rising to the right.

  • ง

    “ng” ends the word.

    ngo ngu, from งู (snake)Low class

    Compact: a loop at the middle left, a line running down to the foot, then straight up the right.

Why the tone is mid

  1. It starts with ย, which is low class.
  2. There’s no tone mark, so the kind of syllable decides.
  3. It ends in “ng”, a sound 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 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 basic words

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