There are 5 tones in Thai.

We'll start with the most basic rule when tones are applied to mid toned consonants.

Tones are placed right on top of the consonant or a vowel if the vowel goes on top of the consonant

	neutral	first tone	second tone	third tone	fourth tone
Example	กา	ก่า	ก้า	ก๊า	ก๋า
Explanation	monotone	deep and low	high clacking crow	sounds like you're a sreaming crow being captured	you've been released so now you're confused

If the table seems confusing, let's go to a practice that shows you what each tone sounds like. You can click the helper to hear all of the tones to match the questions. I'd say if you can get a streak of 100, you're a pro.

practice your tones

If you'd like to be overwhelmed by all the rules involving tones, you're welcomed to take a look at the tones table to see whats coming for the future lessons.

See tones table

There are 2 ways to write tones

On the consonant

ป่า

This word means forest, the woods, jungle.

ป้า

This word means aunty

ต่อ

This word means a wasp, or to extend something

ต้อ

This word means cataract or glaucoma on your eyes.

Use your tones correctly or the meaning of the word can change

On the vowel

Only when the vowel is on top of the main consonant.

กี่

This word means how many

จี่

This word means to grill or toast

จี้

This word means to mug someone, to poke, or to tickle

Practice your ears

Try out this practice to see if you can identify which tones are being said. Start with "mid" which are the mid toned consonants that we have covered.

Go to test

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