Small wordsA little in Thai
“A little” in Thai is นิดหน่อยnít-nàwy; you'll also hear หน่อยnàwy (softens a request) and น้อยnáwy (little, less).
a little, a bit adverb
- nít high
- nàwy low
- High: start high and go a little higher, a bit tense; don’t let it fall.
- Low: flat and lower than your normal voice, dropping a little at the end.
Also the classic modest reply when someone asks if you speak Thai.
a bit; softens a request ('please') particle
- nàwy low
- Low: flat and lower than your normal voice, dropping a little at the end.
At the end of a request it means 'a bit' and makes it polite, much like 'please'.
little, less, not much adjective
- náwy high
- High: start high and go a little higher, a bit tense; don’t let it fall.
High tone. Don't mix it up with หน่อยnàwy (a bit; please), which is low.
Taught in Unit 3 · Lesson 1: Food, drinks and tastes of the free course.
Practise it freeHow to use it
Three words learners mix up. นิดหน่อยnít-nàwy is an amount: เผ็ดนิดหน่อยpèt nít-nàwy, a little spicy. หน่อยnàwy (low tone) at the end of a request makes it soft and polite, much like "please": ช่วยหน่อยchûay nàwy, could you help? น้อยnáwy (high tone) means little or less: หวานน้อยwǎan náwy, less sweet.
Other spellings you'll see
There's no single official way to write Thai in English letters. We mark the tone of every syllable; online you'll also find:
- nit noi
- nid noi
- noi
More small words in Thai
All small words
Learn this word in Unit 3, free
Unit 3 · I like it! · Food, drinks and tastes. Short lessons with audio for every word, speaking practice and spaced review. No sign-up needed.
Written by the Learn Thai For Free team
Audio: AI voices, quality-checked for tones