Describing thingsน่า (naa) in Thai: the little word behind cute, scary and tasty
น่าnâa before a verb makes a describing word: น่ากินnâa gin, tempting, and น่ารักnâa-rák, cute.
worth (doing), -able: makes a verb into a describing word adverb
- nâa falling
- Falling: start high and drop clearly, like a firm “No!”
How to use it
น่าnâa before a verb turns it into a describing word: "worth doing, makes you want to", a bit like English -able. Food that looks tempting is น่ากินnâa gin, a place worth visiting is น่าไปnâa bpai. Many everyday words are built this way: น่ารักnâa-rák, cute ("lovable"), น่าสนใจnâa-sǒn-jai, interesting, น่ากลัวnâa-glua, scary, น่าเบื่อnâa-bùea, boring, and น่าอยู่nâa-yùu, nice to live in. With จะjà it becomes น่าจะnâa-jà, probably, should. It sounds exactly like หน้าnâa, face or front.
Don't mix it up
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น้าnáa
aunt or uncle (your mother's younger brother or sister)
High tone: your mother's younger brother or sister.
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:
- nah
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