ฟ

Thai letter fo fan (ฟ)

Low-class consonant 31 of 44. It is written ฟ ฟัน in full, the way Thai children learn it, and sounds like "f" at the start of a syllable.

Class low Initial f Final p
ฟ fo fan

Remember it

A set of teeth - two bumps like front teeth showing.

Thai children learn the letter by its full name, ฟ ฟัน fo fan, picture and all. Say the whole thing and the shape comes with it.

What its class does to the tone

Low class is the biggest group. With no mark it gives a mid tone on a live syllable, and a dead syllable splits on vowel length. These three lines cover most of what you will meet, and they hold for ฟ exactly as they do for every other low-class letter.

live syllable, no mark mid tone นา naa Rice field
with mai ek falling tone ค่า khâa Value / fee
with mai tho high tone น้อย nói A little

The examples are whichever low-class word shows the rule most clearly. The full grid for all three classes is here.

Letters that sound the same

2 letters, one sound. Which one a word uses is spelling history rather than pronunciation, so these are learned as part of the word.

Easy to mix up with

Each pair differs by one stroke, and each mistake changes the word.

ฟพ
ฟ and พ pho phaanพ is ฟ with the ascender removed.
ฟฝ
ฟ and ฝ fo faฝ is the high-class twin, which changes the tone.

Words that use it

Every line here is one you will meet again in a lesson. Press play to hear it.

ฟันfan
tooth / teeth
ฟ้าfáa
sky
แฟนfaen
Boyfriend / Girlfriend
ฟังfang
To listen
ฟรีfree
Free
กาแฟgaa fae
Coffee
รถไฟrót fai
Train
ไวไฟwai fai
Wifi

Where it turns up in the course

87 course words use ฟ

Learn ฟ early and these are the chapters it pays off in first.

Changdee, a Sabai Thai companion
วันละตัวก็พอ wan la tua ko phoOne letter a day is enough

Drill all 68 characters in the app

Listening and recall drills, with audio on every character.

What free includes
Get it on Google Play