Thai consonant 41 of 44
ห – Ho Hip (hǎw hìip): the Thai letter H
- Class
- High class
- Start sound
- h
- End sound
- not used
- Keyword
- chest (box)
ห หอ หีบ hǎw hìip
In short
ห (หอ หีบhǎw hìip) is the 41st letter of the Thai alphabet and a high-class consonant. At the start of a syllable it sounds like h; it is never used as a final consonant. Its name means "ห as in หีบ, chest (box)".
How to say ห
h as in 'hat'
The keyword หีบhìip means chest (box). Say the letter as หอ หีบhǎw hìip.
Same "h" sound, different letter: ฮ Ho Nokhuk. The class is what tells them apart.
Thai words with ห
Tap the speaker to hear each word. Can you spot ห in each one?
- หน่อย nàwy
a bit; softens a request ('please')
- หวาน wǎan
sweet
- หนึ่ง nùeng
one
- ห้า hâa
five
- หก hòk
six
- หมู mǔu
pork; pig
- หิว hǐu
hungry
- หรือ rǔue
or
- หรือเปล่า rǔue bplàao
…or not? (checking a yes/no question)
- ห้องน้ำ hâwng-náam
bathroom, toilet
Don't mix it up with
Letters that look similar. Compare the loops, tails and notches.
- หอ หีบ hǎw hìip
Tones with high-class letters
ห is one of the 11 high-class consonants. With no tone mark:
- Live syllableRising tone
- Dead syllableLow tone
Two tone marks: ◌่ low, ◌้ falling.
The full tone rules chart