Short vowels with a final: ◌ั, the hidden o, and ◌็

Short vowels change shape, or vanish completely, when a final consonant follows. Learn three patterns and a huge number of everyday words opens up.

1. Short a becomes a small hook

Before a final consonant, ◌ะa turns into ◌ัa, ไม้หันอากาศmái-hǎn-aa-gàat, above the consonant: วันwan (day), กับgàp (with), ฉันchǎn (I). ◌ัยai is the same a plus y: วัยwai (age).

2. Short o is invisible

Two consonants side by side with no vowel between them = consonant + o + final:

• คนkon person
• ผมpǒm I (men)
• รถrót car
• ฝนfǒn rain
• ส้มsôm orange

The hidden o is one of the most common vowels in Thai, so expect it everywhere.

3. ◌็mái-dtài-kúu shortens

This little squiggle shortens เ◌ee and แ◌ae before a final: เด็กdèk (child), เล็กlék (small), เป็นbpen (be), เย็นyen (cool), แข็งkǎeng (hard), เร็วrew (fast). Occasionally it shortens ◌อaw too: ล็อกláwk (lock).

When a syllable needs a tone mark there's no room for ◌็mái-dtài-kúu, yet some words stay short anyway: เล่นlên (play), เก่งgèng (clever). Learn them as words.

The famous exception: ก็gâw (so, then, also) is written with ◌็mái-dtài-kúu but said long and falling.

Tones

Nothing new, just practice:

• live (ends in m, n, ng, y, w): mid or low class mid, as in วันwan and คนkon; high class rising, as in ฉันchǎn and ผมpǒm
• dead (ends in k, t, p): mid or high class low, as in กับgàp and เด็กdèk; low class high, as in รับráp, รถrót and เล็กlék

Typical mistake: reading ผมpǒm as two syllables. Two consonants with nothing between them make one syllable with a hidden o.