Thai is a tonal language. It
has
five tones:high tones, rising tone, mid tone, low tone, and falling tone. Different tones make a word have different
meanings, so when speaking Thai you should try to say the tones as accurately
as you can.
Try these examples to see if
you can hear and pronounce the tones correctly:
1. krai kai kai gai(who is selling an egg?)
2.
mai mai mai mai chai mai
(The
new wood won’t burn, right?)
3. klai klaimai klai
(it’s near, not far.)
Sentences in Thai are
similar to English in that they are in the order of subject, verb, and object.
For tenses, there are some signal words for time, but the verb forms do not
change. Below are some useful Thai expressions for different occasions from a
very useful website. Click each topic to learn. They are linked to http://www.learningthai.com/speak_thai.html
You can see the
transliteration of each word and can hear how the expressions are pronounced.
Top 10 Useful Phrases