Shangri Lingua

How to say “you” in Thai

คุณ

kun

/kʰun/

คุณ means you.

Pronunciation and usage

Tone: mid

This is the polite “you”. It’s also the title that goes before a person’s first name, like Mr. or Ms.: คุณสมชาย, Khun Somchai.

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

  • คุณสบายดีไหม

    kun sà-baai dee mái?/kʰun sà.baːj diː máj/

    How are you?

How it’s spelled

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

  •  ุ

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

    sara u

    A small hook below the line.

  • ณ

    “n” ends the word.

    no nen, from เณร (novice monk)Low class

    Wide: a looped left half joined to น on the right.

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 in “n”, 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 teaches คุณ 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 people and family

Browse all Thai vocabulary.