Diminutive modifiers (นิดหน่อย / นิดหนึ่ง)

Diminutive Modifiers: A Little Bit

To say "a little bit" in Thai, use the diminutive modifiers นิดหนึ่ง or นิดหน่อย. These are extremely useful when ordering street food to adjust flavors and portions exactly to your liking. Grammatically, they are placed directly after a verb (such as "to add" or "to reduce") or a stative verb (an adjective like "spicy" or "hard").

Customizing Ingredients

When ordering a bowl of noodles or customizing a dish, you can use these modifiers to request just a small amount of specific ingredients, like peanuts or oil. Notice how the modifier still goes at the end of the phrase it modifies.

Textures and Seasonings

You can also fine-tune how your food is cooked by pairing a cooking method (like grilling) or a desired texture (like crispy) with a diminutive modifier.

The same rule applies to condiments and seasonings. If you want to add soy sauce, or if you are noting that a shop uses MSG, placing นิดหน่อย at the end describes the small quantity.