Thai Polite Particles
More than just ค่ะ ka and ครับ krap
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· published March 20, 2021
· last update July 7, 2021
Introduction
This is a guideline for Thai learners, so it is heavily simplified. Which particle a Thai speaker uses depends on many factors and can be changed according to the situation or the personal style of the speaker.
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The most important particles - ค่ะ ka and ครับ krap
ค่ะ polite word for women
See in Dictionary or ครับ polite word for men
See in Dictionary are the particles you will need every day. Which one you use depends on your sex:
See in Dictionary or ครับ polite word for men
See in Dictionary are the particles you will need every day. Which one you use depends on your sex:
- ค่ะ polite word for women
See in Dictionary is used by women, - ครับ polite word for men
See in Dictionary by men
These particles are used the following way:
- for politeness: put ค่ะ polite word for women
See in Dictionary or ครับ polite word for men
See in Dictionary at the end of almost every sentence, so you don't sound rude. - to say "yes": if you use these particles by themselves, they mean "yes". You can also use them if someone calls your name, meaning "yes", or "I'm here".
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But there are more than two particles
- At the end of questions women use คะ question for women
See in Dictionary, not ค่ะ polite word for women
See in Dictionary. (Men continue to use ครับ polite word for men
See in Dictionary) - ขา leg; polite word for women, yes
See in Dictionary is sometimes used by women instead of ค่ะ polite word for women
See in Dictionary for saying "yes" - จ๊ะ polite word
See in Dictionary or จ้ะ polite word
See in Dictionary can be used as polite particles as well and จ๋า yes
See in Dictionary can be used for "yes". They are used by:- by girls/young women
- by older women talking to friends or kids
- by lovers talking to each other
- LGBT use ฮ่ะ polite word (mainly used by LGBT)
See in Dictionary and in questions ฮะ question particle (mainly used by LGBT)
See in Dictionary. - ครับผม yes (for men, very polite)
See in Dictionary ("yes, sir") is used by male speakers only. It is very formal and polite. The usage is similar to ครับ polite word for men
See in Dictionary, to which it is interchangeable. ครับผม yes (for men, very polite)
See in Dictionary is not used in the negative, you use ไม่ no, not
See in Dictionaryครับ polite word for men
See in Dictionary instead. - นะ polite particle
See in Dictionary is often used in combination with other particles. You often hear นะ polite particle
See in Dictionaryคะ question for women
See in Dictionary, นะ polite particle
See in Dictionaryครับ polite word for men
See in Dictionary or นะ polite particle
See in Dictionaryจ๊ะ polite word
See in Dictionary at the end of statements. This mainly sounds more "cute".
But careful:- นะ polite particle
See in Dictionary + ค่ะ polite word for women
See in Dictionary --> นะ polite particle
See in Dictionaryคะ question for women
See in Dictionary (not ค่ะ polite word for women
See in Dictionary) - นะ polite particle
See in Dictionary + จ้ะ polite word
See in Dictionary --> นะ polite particle
See in Dictionaryจ๊ะ polite word
See in Dictionary (not จ้ะ polite word
See in Dictionary)
- นะ polite particle
Why are there polite particles?
Western languages use tones for sentences, e.g. you can say "I have a house" in different ways:
rising: I have a house? → question
medium: I have a house. → normal statement
falling: I have a house. → aggressive
In tonal languages like Chinese and Thai, tones are used for words. So it is not clear from the sentence alone if it's a question, a polite statement, a challenge or an impolite statement. So most tonal languages are quite pragmatic: they use an additional word to indicate if it is a question and another for politeness.
These particles are very important in Thai. If you leave them out, your sentence can sound odd or even slightly rude. But if you want to sound agressive or rude, there are specific particles for that.
Also, as mentioned in the introduction, many particles depend on the speaker's style. E.g. some speakers like more playful particles, others don't. As a Thai learner, pick only a few particles that match your character.
rising: I have a house? → question
medium: I have a house. → normal statement
falling: I have a house. → aggressive
In tonal languages like Chinese and Thai, tones are used for words. So it is not clear from the sentence alone if it's a question, a polite statement, a challenge or an impolite statement. So most tonal languages are quite pragmatic: they use an additional word to indicate if it is a question and another for politeness.
These particles are very important in Thai. If you leave them out, your sentence can sound odd or even slightly rude. But if you want to sound agressive or rude, there are specific particles for that.
Also, as mentioned in the introduction, many particles depend on the speaker's style. E.g. some speakers like more playful particles, others don't. As a Thai learner, pick only a few particles that match your character.