ไอ

sara ai · short vowel · vowel 17 of 19

ไอ

Short 'ai' with mai malai - common spelling

How it is written

The อ above is a placeholder for whichever consonant the vowel attaches to - it is not part of the vowel. This one is written before the consonant even though it is pronounced after it, which is the single most confusing thing about reading Thai for the first week.

Vowel length changes the tone. A short vowel makes an open syllable dead, and live or dead is one of the three things that decide a syllable's tone. See the rules, or let the tone checker do it.

Words that use it

ไป

bpai

to go

ไอ

Cough

ไกล

klai

Far

ไหร

rǎi

Southern for 'what' (standard: อะไร)

ไก่

gài

chicken

ไข่

khài

egg

รถไฟ

rot fai

Train

ไชโย

chai yo

Hooray

ไหว้

wai

To wai (respectful greeting)

ไลค์

lai

Like (social media)

ตรงไป

trong pai

Straight ahead

ผลไม้

phonlamai

Fruit

Pulled from the course vocabulary by matching the written form, so the odd near-miss can slip in.

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