Small wordsAlone in Thai
“Alone” in Thai is คนเดียวkon-diaw; you'll also hear เดียวdiaw (only one).
alone, by oneself adverb
- kon mid
- diaw mid
- Mid: level, in your normal speaking voice.
one, single, only one (after a counting word) adjective
- diaw mid
- Mid: level, in your normal speaking voice.
You'll hear it in Doo Wai (ดูไว้).
How to use it
คนเดียวkon-diaw, "one person", is alone: มาคนเดียวmaa kon-diaw, I came alone. Thais like doing things together, so friends may worry a little about someone who eats or travels alone, and invite them along.
เดียวdiaw, "single, only one", comes after a counting word: อันเดียวan diaw, just one; ครั้งเดียวkráng diaw, only once. เดียวกันdiaw-gan is "the same one". Two sound-alikes: rising เดี๋ยวdǐaw means "in a moment", and low เดี่ยวdìaw is "single, solo", as in a single bed.
Don't mix it up
-
เดี๋ยวdǐaw
in a moment; hold on
Rising tone: in a moment, hold on.
-
เดี่ยวdìaw
single, solo
Low tone: single, as in เตียงเดี่ยวdtiang dìaw, a single bed.
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:
- kon diao
- khon diaw
- kon deaw
- kondiao
- diao
- deow
More small words in Thai
All small words
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