RSS

Speaking thai anyone?

In here I’ll put some short items designed for the casual visitor to Thailand who’d like to have a few words or phrases in the local language to impress the girls with.

These items are NOT intended to assist people who know the language or live here full time. They are also NOT intended to teach anyone to speak or read Thai. If you want to learn the language, buy a book, a CD or take a class.

I’m simply trying to entertain, and provide some simple vocabulary that people can retain and use on their next trip to Thialand.

Of course if you visit Thailand you want to know some basics about food to help you get what you want to eat. The list below gives you a little simple vocabulary for food:

Meat & Fish

Gai = chicken

Moo = Pork or pig

Nua = beef (and meat generally)

Plaa = fish

Poo = crab

Gung = prawn or shrimp

plaa meuk = squid/octopus

Fruit & Vegetables

polamai = fruit

appen = apple

strawberry = strawberry

Dtaengmoe = watermelon

Saparot = pineapple

Mameaung = mango

Turien = Durien

Pak = vegetables

Mercated = tomato

Man Falang = potato

Kawpoht = corn

Rice & Noodles

Khao = rice

Khao Nieow = sticky rice

Kway Teow = Noodles

Cooking Methods

Paat = stir fried (So, Khao Paat is fried rice)

Tawt = deep fried (So, Gai Tawt is fried chicken)

Yang = grilled or barbequed (So, Moo Yang is grilled pork)

Miscellaneous

Ahaan = food (generally) (Taam-ahaan is cooking; raan-ahaan is restaurant)

Gin (hard ‘g’) = eat (also taan)

Deum = drink (Sometimes Thais also use ‘gin’ for drinking; ex: gin nom = drink milk)

Kai = egg (kai dow = fried egg)

Gang = curry

Naam Plaa = fish sauce

Toum = soup (So, Khao Toum is rice soup, Khao Toum Plaa is rice soup with fish)

Lawn = hot (temperature)

Yen = cool or cold

Hue = hungry

Im = full

Flavours

Kem = salty (glua = salt)

Wan = sweet (naamtaan = sugar)

Kom (rhymes with home) = bitter

Ped = spicy (prik = chili)

Briaow = sour (minaow = lime or lemon)

Mak Mak = a lot; very (So, Kem mak mak is very salty; ped mak mak is very spicy)

Nid Noy = a little bit; not much (So, ped nid noy is only a little bit spicy; not very spicy)

Asking for food

Simple Questions and Answers

The word ‘ow’ means want or would like. A very simple way to ask for something is to use ow + noun. To say you don’t want something you say mai ow + noun. Someone may ask you if you want something, and they may ask, ow + noun + mai?

For example:

Ow khao paat moo mai? = do you want stir fried rice and pork?

Ow naam som = I want some orange juice

Mai ow Turien = I don’t want durien.

Mai ow naam kaeng = I don’t want ice

The word ‘chawb’ means you like something. A very simple way to say you like something is to use chawb + noun or chawb + adjective. To say you don’t like something you say mai chawb + noun (or adjective). Someone may ask you if you like something, and they may ask, chawb + (noun/adjective) + mai?

For example:

Chawb poo mai? = Do you like crab?

Chawb ahaan ped mai? = Do you like spicy food?

Chawb bia mai? = Do you like beer?

Chawb gung mak mak = I like prawns very much.

Chawb Dtaengmoe nid noy = I like watermelon a little bit.

Mai chawb ahaan ped = I don’t like spicy food.

Mai chawb gang = I don’t like curry

The word ‘ik’ or ‘eeg’ means more, or again. You can use this word in simple sentences when you want more of something.

eeg neung = one more

eeg neung kuwat = one more bottle

eeg sawng kuwat = two more bottles

eeg neung geaw = one more glass

eek neung jaan = one more plate (a second helping)

eek sahm shin = three more pieces

Ow eek neung = (I) want one more

Ow eek sahm kuwat = (I/We) want three more bottles

Ow eek neung shin = (I) want one more piece

Pood eek krap = (please) say that again

More Complex Requests

If you want to be more polite, you can challenge yourself to stretch your vocabulary further. To say that you would like something, and to say it politely, one grammar form you can use is:

Kaw + noun + noi + krap

For example:

Kaw gai tawd noi krap = I would like fried chicken please

Kaw moo yang ga khao noi krap = I would like grilled pork and rice please

Kaw naam plao noi krap = I would like some water please

0 comments:

Post a Comment