Describing things พื้นฐาน púuen-tǎan
basic, fundamental; the basics, background adjective
- púuen high
- tǎan rising
- High: start high and go a little higher, a bit tense; don’t let it fall.
- Rising: start low, dip, then rise to the top, like a doubtful “Really?”
Parts: พื้นpúuen floor, ground ฐานtǎan base
How to use it
พื้นฐานpúuen-tǎan, "floor and base", is the basics of anything: a language, a sport, cooking. Course names use it for the beginners' level, and someone's พื้นฐานpúuen-tǎan is also their grounding or background: มีพื้นฐานภาษาไทยไหมmii púuen-tǎan paa-sǎa tai mǎi, do you know some Thai already?
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:
- phuen than
- puen tan
- pheunthan
- peun tan
More describing things in Thai
All describing things
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Written by the Learn Thai For Free team
Audio: AI voices, quality-checked for tones