In Thai there are a number of words, some of them meaningless in themselves, which are used as prefixes or suffixes to verbs to give them a particular shade of meaning.

Some of the more common ones are given below.

NAH d (น่า) is a prefix added to verbs and when used thus has a meaning similar to the archaic English word “worthy”.

	NAH GIN	น่ากิน	Appetising. (Eat worthy)
	NAH RUK	น่ารัก	Loveable. (Love worthy)
	NAH DOO	น่าดู	Worth looking at.
	NAH ROO	น่ารู้	Worth knowing.
	NAH SEE-A DAI	น่าเสียดาย	Regrettable.
	PAHP-PA-YON REUNG NUN NAH DOO MAHK That picture (movie) is well worth seeing. ภาพยนตร์เรื่องนั้นน่าดูมาก

KEE d (ขี้) is added as a prefix to a few words to indicate “having a tendency to”. It should be noted that this prefix is only used with words implying some slightly unpleasant characteristic.

	KEE GEE-AT	ขี้เกียจ	Inclined to be lazy.
	KEE BON	ขี้บ่น	Inclined to grumble.
	KEE AI	ขี้อาย	Inclined to be shy.
	CHAI NOOM KON NUN KEE GEE-AT That young man is lazy. ชายหนุ่มคนนั้นขี้เกียจ

SEE c (ซี) is an imperative suffix to a verb to denote urgency, request or command.

	DOO SEE	ดูซี	Look here. Look at this.
	CHOO-AY DTERM NUM ROT NOY SEE Please fill up the radiator. ช่วยเติมน้ำรถหน่อยซี
	PY SEE	ไปซี	Go away. Scram.
	PERT PRADTOO SEE KA TEENEE RORN MAHK Open the door; it is very hot in here. เปิดประตูซีคะ ที่นี่ร้อนมาก
	MEE SEE KRUP	มีซีครับ	Of course I have.

NA h (นะ) is a suffix commonly used at the end of a sentence to denote a request or command or in some cases a question to which no answer is expected something like the English word “eh”.

	KOY DEE-O NA KRUP	คอยเดี๋ยวนะครับ	Please wait a minute.
	ARY NA KRUP	อะไรนะครับ	What is it?
	YAH SAI EEK NA	อย่าสายอีกนะ	Don’t be late again.
	RAWANG HOR NEE NA PEN TOO-AY GAAW Be careful with this parcel; it contains glasses. ระวังห่อนี้นะ เป็นถ้วยแก้ว
	AH-HAHN NEE DOO NAH GIN NA KRUP This food looks appetising doesn’t it? อาหารนี้ดูน่ากินนะครับ

TEE DEE-O c-c (ทีเดียว) means “exactly”, “certainly”, “sure” etc. and is often placed at the end of a sentence to emphasize the verb.

	AH-HAHN NEE DOO NAH GIN TEE DEE-O This food certainly looks goods. อาหารนี้ดูน่ากินทีเดียว
	TAH YAHNG NUN MY DTORNG REEP MEE WAYLAH MAHK TEE DEE-O If that is so we need not hurry, there is plenty of time. ถ้าอย่างนั้นไม่ต้องรีบ มีเวลามากทีเดียว
	KOON MAH REW MAHK TEE DEE-O You certainly come very early. คุณมาเร็วมากทีเดียว

TER l (เถอะ) is often met with at the end of a sentence as a form of request or mild imperative. It is often written เถิด but the final consonant is not pronounced.

	PY TER	ไปเถอะ	Please go.
	PY GUN TER	ไปกันเถอะ	Let us go together.

DORK l (ดอก) which also means “a flower” can also be used as a meaningless suffix at the end of a sentence to add emphasis.

	MY MEE TOORA ARY DORK KRUP ไม่มีธุระอะไรดอกครับ	I haven’t any particular business.
	MY JUMPEN DORK KA ไม่จำเป็นดอกค่ะ	It isn’t really necessary.

RORK l (หรอก) is another meaningless suffix added for emphasis similar to DORK.

NUNGSEU LEM NUN MY MOW RORK That book is not at all suitable. หนังสือเล่มนั้นไม่เหมาะหรอก

NOR r (หนอ) is a reflective word sometimes added at the end of a sentence as below.

NUN JA PEN SUT ARY NOR นั่นจะเป็นสัตว์อะไรหนอ

I wonder what that animal is?

SEE-A r (เสีย) “to waste”, “to spoil”, “to spend” is also used as a meaningless suffix at the end of a sentence to give the idea of the action having been finally completed. This usage is rather obscure and difficult for foreigners to understand but you will come across it quite frequently in conversation and reading.

	POM KIT WAH KOW KONG ORK PY NORK MEU-ANG SEE-A LAAW I think he has probably left the town already. ผมคิดว่าเขาคงออกไปนอกเมืองเสียแล้ว
	DEE-O NEE POM MY NAA JY SEE-A LAAW I am not so sure now. เดี๋ยวนี้ผมไม่แน่ใจเสียแล้ว

DOO-AY d (ด้วย) meaning “with” is another word often added at the end of a sentence for little apparent purpose other than for euphony.

	PROT KOY CHUN DOO-AY โปรดคอยฉันด้วย	Please wait for me.
	PROT PERT PRADTOO HY CHUN DOO-AY Please open the gate for me. โปรดเปิดประตูให้ฉันด้วย

The colloquial forms of any language are difficult to explain to any foreigner and it is unlikely that you will be able to use these words as a Thai would until you become very accustomed to the language. The proper usage will come gradually by listening to Thai speakers, but in the meantime you can get alone quite well without trying to use them unless you are sure. Don’t just use them unless you are fairly sure the usage is correct; they sound rather silly if used wrongly. We mention them here because you will hear them used and meet them in reading and should recognise the usage.

Generated by Lyndon Hill on Thu Jul 20 18:40:35 BST 2006.

Copyright remains with the original authors.