Demonstrative pronouns (นี่, นั่น)

The Thai Alphabet

Welcome to Thai! The Thai script has consonants, vowels (which can appear above, below, before, or after the consonant), and tone marks. Thai does not have capital and lowercase letters.

Here are the letters in this lesson:

• Consonants: ก (k), ข (kh), ค (kh), ง (ng), ช (ch), ด (d), ต (dt), ท (th), น (n), บ (b), ป (p), พ (ph), ม (m), ย (y), ร (r), ล (l), ว (w), ส (s), ห (h), อ (silent vowel carrier)
• Vowels: า (long a), ะ (short a), ั (short a), ิ (short i), ี (long i), ื (long ue), ู (long u), เ (long e), แ (long ae), ไ (ai), ำ (am)
• Tone Marks: ่ (first tone mark), ้ (second tone mark)

Politeness Particles

You can make almost any Thai sentence polite by adding a particle at the end. The particle you use depends on your gender (the speaker), not the listener's. Male speakers use ครับ and female speakers use ค่ะ.

Identifying Objects (This and That)

To point things out, use the demonstrative pronouns นี่ (this) and นั่น (that). In Thai, you do not need a verb like "is" when simply identifying an object. You place the demonstrative directly in front of the noun, followed by your polite particle: [Demonstrative] + [Noun] + [Polite Particle].