The degree modifier (มาก)

New Thai Letters

Thai does not have capital or lowercase letters. This lesson introduces several rare consonants, special vowels, and punctuation marks:

• ฝ (ฝ ฝา): makes an "f" sound.
• ฉ (ฉ ฉิ่ง): makes a "ch" sound.
• ฒ (ฒ ผู้เฒ่า): makes a "th" sound.
• ฐ (ฐ ฐาน): makes a "th" sound.
• ฏ (ฏ ปฏัก): makes a "t" sound.
• ฎ (ฎ ชฎา): makes a "d" sound.
• ฆ (ฆ ระฆัง): makes a "kh" sound.
• ฌ (ฌ เฌอ): makes a "ch" sound.
• ฑ (ฑ มณโฑ): makes a "th" or "d" sound.
• ฦ: an obsolete character making a "lue" sound.
• ฬ (ฬ จุฬา): makes an "l" sound.
• ฮ (ฮ นกฮูก): makes an "h" sound.
• ฺ (พินทุ): a dot placed under a consonant, primarily used in loanwords.
• ๅ (ลากข้างยาว): a vowel extension used to lengthen a sound.
• ๆ (ไม้ยมก): a repetition mark indicating the previous word should be spoken twice.
• ํ (นิคหิต): a small circle placed above a consonant to add a nasal sound.
• ๎ (ยามักการ): a rare mark used to indicate consonant clusters.
• ฯ (ไปยาลน้อย): an abbreviation mark used to shorten long words.

Adding Emphasis with มาก

To express stronger feelings or states—such as turning "hungry" into "very hungry"—use the degree modifier มาก (very). Place มาก immediately after the adjective (stative verb) you are modifying.

When describing nouns, the sentence order remains consistent: Noun + Adjective + มาก. For example, to say "The house is very old," use บ้าน (house) + เก่า (old) + มาก (very).

Comparing Regular and Emphasized Descriptions

Here is how sentences look with and without the degree modifier: