Word
โลก กลม มาก จน ไม่ น่า เชื่อ เลย ค่ะ
Meaning
It's unbelievable how small the world is.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of โลก กลม มาก จน ไม่ น่า เชื่อ เลย ค่ะ
ค่ะ
polite particle (female)
มาก
very / much, more
ไม่
not
โลก
world
Questions & Answers about โลก กลม มาก จน ไม่ น่า เชื่อ เลย ค่ะ
The English translation says "small world," but doesn't กลม mean "round"?
You are exactly right! โลกกลม literally means "the world is round," but it is the standard Thai idiom for "it's a small world." Thai speakers use this exact phrase as a reaction when they บังเอิญ (coincidentally) run into someone they know. The logic is that because the world is a sphere, people's paths inevitably loop around and cross again.
How could I explicitly use this lesson's target word บังเอิญ (coincidentally) with this phrase?
You would use บังเอิญ to describe the unexpected event itself, and then use this sentence as your reaction. For example, you could say: เราบังเอิญเจอกัน โลกกลมมาก (We bumped into each other by coincidence. It's such a small world!).
What is the function of จน in the middle of this sentence?
The word จน literally means "until," but when it follows an intensifier like มาก (very), it forms the common pattern มาก... จน... which means "so... that...". Here, it links the two ideas to say that the world is so round (small) that it's unbelievable.
Could I just say ไม่เชื่อเลย instead of ไม่น่าเชื่อเลย?
They have very different nuances. ไม่เชื่อ means "I don't believe it," which can sound blunt, as if you think the other person is lying. By adding the prefix น่า (worthy of / -able), it becomes ไม่น่าเชื่อ (unbelievable). This safely expresses that the situation is highly surprising, without accusing anyone of making things up.