How to say I love you in Thai
One word, รัก rak, carries it. Here is how to say it with the right tone, which pronoun to use, and the short version Thais really use.
I love you in Thai is ผมรักคุณ pom rak khun from a man and ฉันรักคุณ chan rak khun from a woman. The short, everyday version is รักนะ rak na.
How to say it
รัก rak is said in 1 syllable: รัก high.
Say it with ครับ or ค่ะ at the end: รักครับ rak krap from a man, รักค่ะ rak ka from a woman.
The polite particles ครับ and ค่ะ
Thai adds a small word to the end of a sentence to make it polite. Which one you use depends on who is speaking, not who you are talking to.
- ครับ krap: polite particle for male speakers. high
- ค่ะ ka: polite particle for female speakers. falling
Use one with strangers, shop staff, anyone older and anyone you want to be polite to. In a question a woman says คะ instead, with a high tone: กินข้าวหรือยังคะ kin khâao rǔe yang khá means "Have you eaten yet?" The example sentences on this page are written for a male speaker; a woman swaps ครับ for ค่ะ.
Who is speaking
The full sentence is a pronoun, รัก, then the person you love. The pronoun depends on who you are: ผมรักคุณ pom rak khun from a man and ฉันรักคุณ chan rak khun from a woman both mean "I love you". Between partners the polite คุณ often gives way to a casual word or the person's nickname.
| Thai | Meaning | Tones |
|---|---|---|
| ผม pom | I (male) | rising |
| ฉัน chan | I (female/informal) | rising |
| คุณ khun | you | mid |
The short, everyday version
Thais drop the pronouns when they are clear, and soften the end with นะ na. รักนะ rak na, "love you", is what couples actually text each other. Add มาก mak for "very much": รักมากนะ rak mak na.
I miss you, and words around love
คิดถึง kit tueng, "to miss (someone); to think of", is said far more often than "I love you", on every call home: คิดถึงนะ kit tueng na, "miss you". ชอบ chawp is "to like", a safer first step, and แฟน faen is the one word for boyfriend and girlfriend.
| Thai | Meaning | Tones |
|---|---|---|
| ความรัก khwam rak | love (noun) | mid high |
| คิดถึง kit tueng | to miss (someone); to think of | high rising |
| ชอบ chawp | to like | falling |
| แฟน faen | boyfriend/girlfriend | mid |
| มาก mak | very / a lot | falling |
Letter by letter
How รัก is spelled, from the ThaiCards alphabet tables. Tap any character on a card in the app to see the same thing.
| Letter | Name | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| ร | รอ เรือ ro ruea | low-class consonant, r at the start of a syllable |
| ◌ั | ไม้หันอากาศ mai han akat | vowel, a (short) |
| ก | กอ ไก่ ko kai | mid-class consonant, k at the start of a syllable |
Practice this in ThaiCards
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