How to speak Thai Archives - Learn Thai from a White Guy

How to Say I Miss You in Thai

Today we’re going to learn how to say “I miss you” in Thai.  While this is the perfect phrase to show that special someone that you’re thinking of them, it’s also used to say that you miss your family, friends, places and times of your life. 

miss you in Thai

คิดถึงจัง

I Miss You in Thai

The main Thai phrase for “I miss you” is คิดถึง (kít tĕung).

The phrase คิดถึง (kít tĕung) literally translates as something like “thinking of you” or “(my) thoughts reach (you)” however it’s used just like we use “I miss you” in English.  

Thai Grammar Note:

Thai is a very contextual language which means we will very often drop any information that is already understood by both speaker and listener.  The most common example of this is dropping the pronouns as in “I miss you.”  We really only need to say the “miss” part.  If I say คิดถึง (kít tĕung)  to you, everybody involved or in earshot knows who misses who.

How to Say I REALLY Miss You in Thai

You can use any of these phrases to when you want to tell someone you miss them a lot.

In case you really want to impress your significant other, use this one.  Be warned that the person you use this on may very well swoon.

I Miss You NA นะ (NA: The Special Softener Particle)

Thai language has a lot of very short words called “particles.”  Particle words often don’t have a a meaning like most words.  Rather they add a bit of emotional color to the sentence that they are modifying.  In non-tonal languages, we do this with intonation.  NA นะ is one of the most common particle words that you will encounter in Thai.

I call it “the softener” because it makes whatever you are saying sound softer/nicer/more pleasant.  The extent of this “softness” is contextual.  So if people in a relationship say it to each other, or someone says it to a small child, it can have a cute feeling to it.

คิดถึง vs คิดถึงนะ – Both of these phrases mean “I miss you,” but the na adds a pinch of niceness.

More Formal/Polite Ways to Say I Miss You in Thai

The main word for you in Thai is คุณ (khun), but it is not used in Thai like we us “you” in English.  The Thai คุณ (khun) has a very formal feel to it which is similar to “mr.” or “mrs.” so we don’t recommend using it very much.  However, you will come across it in texts and in Thai dramas where the dialogue tends to be unrealistically polite so we’ll give you some examples.

It would sound nice on a card, but it would sound a little silly if you said to someone.  Because, generally, if you are close to someone, you would never call them คุณ (khun) – “you.”

More Useful Thai Phrases Related to “I Miss You”

Learn to Speak and Read Thai

Want to learn how to speak and read Thai language?  My full Thai core skills program teaches you everything you need to know about the script, sounds and tones of Thai.  It also contains courses that teach you all the foundational sentence patterns that you’ll need to function in a conversation.   Sign up below and I’ll send you some free lessons from the program to try out.

How to Say Who in Thai

Here’s How to Say Who in Thai

“Who” is one of the first question words you should learn in Thai (or any) language because you’ll need to use this word every day starting from day 1.   Below, we’ll show you a few common phrases that use the word who, we’ll also break down the spelling in Thai so you can get an idea how the Thai alphabet works.

The Thai word for Who is:

how to say who in Thai = KRAI + picture of boy covering eyes of man

ใครอ่ะ

How to Spell Who in Thai:

Even if you can’t read the Thai script yet, it might be interesting to break this Thai word down to see how it works.

The letter in the middle is an aspirated “K” sound.  Aspirated just means that there will be a strong blast of air when you pronounce this Thai letter.  It’s just like the K sound in “kite” “keep” or “kill.”

ค – Kh 

Click on any of the following Thai words to hear this letter in action.  Don’t worry about the rest of the word right now.  Just listen for the first consonant K sound.

  1. คุณ (khun) – you
  2. คน (khon) – person; people
  3. ควาย (kwaai) – buffalo

The 2nd letter which is all the way to the right in this word is the Thai “R” sound.  In Thai, just like in English, you’ll find that sometimes, 2 consonants can share the same vowel sound.  *The Thai R (ร) is trilled, but in informal daily conversation, most people do not pronounce the full trill so don’t worry if you can’t say it perfectly yet.

ร – R (trilled)

In the word for “who,” the K and the R come together to create a คร- KR- sound.   This is called a “consonant cluster” and you already know how to say it even if you’ve never heard that term before.  Here are some examples of consonant clusters in English.  I’ll BOLD the clustered letters to make it easier to pick them out.

  1. Crazy
  2. Brett
  3. Three

The Thai Vowel: ใอ (ai)

The symbol on the left of ใคร (krai) is the vowel.  This vowel sound makes an “ai” or “eye” sound.  Click on the following Thai word to hear how it’s pronounced: ใอ

Here are some basic Thai words which use the ใอ (ai) vowel:

Example Sentences with the Thai Word “Who”

How to Say “Who” in Formal and Informal Thai

Like in English, asking someone who they are should be done in a polite way to avoid sounding rude. If a Thai person asks this question they will usually add a male or female polite particle.

An informal, sometimes impolite particle can also be used depending on certain factors like your relationship with the person you are asking.

Formal Thai Phrases with Who

You should note that these polite particles don’t always sound the same when you hear them spoken in public. Often, the R (ร) in “Khrap” is dropped and it ends up being pronounced as “Khap” ( คับ).

Informal Thai Phrases with Who

The particle “na” ( นะ) can be added to the sentence to make the question sound softer. Who are you? –

This might be used in a situation where two possible love interests have bumped into each other. Na is not impolite but should not be used in very formal circumstances. 

A Very Impolite Thai Particle

Lastly, the impolite particle can be used at the end of the sentence: wa ( วะ)

Imagine a man picks up the telephone of his girlfriend and another man is on the line. This might cause him to be jealous (He’s the jealous type), and so the sentence may not sound very polite at all. The man may simply ask  – “Krai wa?” ( ใคร วะ) or “Krai phoud wa?” ( ใคร พูด วะ). In English this would translate as something like “Who the hell is this?” or “Who the hell is speaking?”  

Be very careful with the WA ( วะ) particle.   If you use it with someone you don’t know it is very aggressive and you could get yourself into trouble.  Many Thai people will use it amongst their close friends so if you stick around long enough you are going to hear this particle.  I don’t recommend using it until you have gotten a bit deeper into Thai language.  

*In the Thai language “who” is not used in the middle of a sentence. Thais don’t say, “That’s the guy WHO teaches me English.” In Thai, it could sound more like, “That guy. He teaches me English.”   

WHO in Thai is strictly a question word.  

*In the Thai language “who” is not used in the middle of a sentence. Thais don’t say, “That’s the guy who teaches me English.” In Thai, it could sound more like, “That guy. He teaches me English.”

Quick Thai Script Review:

  • ค is a K sound (Aspirated which means it has a strong blast of air when like the C sound in CUT)
  • ร is a R sound (Officially a trilled R sound, but it’s not usually trilled in normal conversation)
  • ใ is a vowel that sounds like “ai” and goes on the LEFT side of the consonant it is attached to.

All together, that spells: ใคร or WHO in Thai.

How to Say I Love You in Thai

 

how-to-say-i-love-you-in-thai

รักต้นไม้บ้างมั้ย = RAK thon-mai baang mai? (Do you LOVE trees?)

How to Say I Love You in Thai?

The quick answer is: chan rak ter or ฉันรักเธอ, but I’d recommend reading further because in context-light language like Thai, choosing the right words and sentences depends on who is talking as well as who you are talking to.

You can click on the blue words and phrases to hear the audio of the Thai word or sentence.

Whether you are studying Thai or just have a significant other that you are trying to impress,  you may be interested in learning how to say I love you in Thai.  Even if you don’t go very deep into Thai language, learning short phrases like this can really win you some bonus points with your partner.

Aside from just knowing how to use and pronounce these Thai phrases correctly, you’ll also hear many of them in Thai songs, Thai soaps and Thai movies.  

In addition to learning the different Thai phrases for “I love you,” we’ll also introduce some of the more common expressions and useful sentences that use the word “love” which is “rak” or รัก in Thai language.

Words for ‘I Love You’ in Thai

how-to-say-i-love-you-in-thai2

หมีมีความรักด้วย

 

The most common expression you’ll probably encounter for “I love you” in Thai across all forms of media is ฉันรักเธอ (chan rak ter).  ฉัน (chan) is generally used as the primary female pronoun, but guys use it in love songs and sometimes on Thai tv and movies. I don’t recommend using this in real life, however if you are male as it can sound a little silly.  You can either drop the pronoun entirely, or use one of the other choices below.  

One thing you will notice pretty quickly in Thai is that the pronouns (like ‘I’ and ‘you’) is often dropped.

When in doubt, just pay attention to how Thai people talk to each other (in real life as opposed to on tv) and copy what they do.  It may take a while sometimes before you can find the answer, but it’s worth the effort.

ฉันรักเธอ (chan rak ter) – I love you.  

ฉัน chan I (primarily used by females)
รัก rak love
เธอ ter you (intimate); she

 

Basic Phrases for “I Love You” in Thai

Choosing the best phrase isn’t always easy.  You’ll probably come across these phrases in textbooks, phrasebooks and other web sites.  I don’t really recommend using them, but they won’t do you any harm.

ผมรักคุณ phom rak khun I love you.  (male speaker)
ฉันรักคุณ chan rak khun I love you.  (female speaker)

 

Thai Sentence Pattern: A รัก B

Here’s the basic sentence pattern saying ‘I love you’ in Thai.

“A loves B,” is what you want to start with, but choosing the correct pronouns to use in Thai can be a little complicated.  Gender, status, age and relationship all have an affect on the words that you should use to refer to both yourself and to whom you are speaking to.

As a learner of the language, you are expected to make mistakes so don’t worry about it too much.  It’s a pretty soft minefield so you won’t lose any limbs. Just keep in mind that the more familiar/intimate/close you are with a person, the more freedom you’ll have to use the informal expressions.

In Thai, it’s very common to drop pronouns when it’s obvious who the target is.  We’ll look at this more in the next section.

Informal ‘I Love You’ in Thai

Since declaring your love for someone tends to be a pretty informal situation to begin with, I’d really recommend becoming familiar with the more informal Thai love phrases you can use with your partner.  You can almost always drop one or both pronouns if it’s clear who is saying what to who.  You can also do this if you just aren’t sure which pronoun to use.

Which Thai pronoun to use?

How to Refer to Your Partner in Thai

Informal;
ผัว poo-ah husband (often used even if not married)
เมีย mia wife (often used even if not married)
Formal:
สามี saa-mee husband
ภรรยา pha-ra-yaa wife

 

General:
แฟน fan boyfriend/girlfriend/partner
ที่รัก thee-rak dear/lover/babe/sweetie

Bonus Thai Love Phrases

 

รักผมรึยัง rak phom rue yang Do you love me yet? (male speaker)
รักฉันรึยัง rak chan rue yang Do you love me yet? (female speaker)
รักไม่เป็น rak mai ppen I don’t know how to love.
ตกหลุมรัก tok lum rak Fall in love (fall-hole-love)
แสดงความรัก sa-dang kwaam rak to show or express love

 

 

Noun vs Verbs in Thai

The word รัก (rak) that we looked at above is going to act as a verb in most cases.  In order to form the noun version of “love” in Thai, you just add the word ความ (kwaam) in front of รัก (rak).  You’ll use the noun form in sentences where you are talking about the concept or idea of love.

Final Thoughts

There are plenty of ways to say “I love you” in Thai and this list is not exhaustive, but hopefully we’ve given you enough to get started with.  Remember, that part of learning a language (or any skill!) involves making mistakes and embracing this early on will make the journey go much smoother.

Want to Learn to Read Thai?

Perhaps, the most important part of learning Thai is mastering the script, sounds and tone rules.   It’s very difficult to learn the correct pronunciation using any type of English transliteration and the sooner you get away from it, the faster your Thai will improve.

Try a couple free lessons from my Thai foundation course which teaches everything you need to know about the script, sound system and tone rules of Thai.