เอา
“เอา” (ао) — to take in Thai. Verb, level A1, topic — shopping and money. The main word of the shop: ao nam — "I will take water". More neutral than kho, "please give", which you know. In a live sentence: “ผม เอา ข้าว กับ น้ำ” — I will take rice and water. Written with the characters เ, อ, า. One of 83 words in the set “shopping and money” in the Thai course.
In short
| Written in Thai | เอา |
| Read in Latin letters | ао |
| Translation | to take |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
The main word of the shop: ao nam — "I will take water". More neutral than kho, "please give", which you know
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- ผม เอา ข้าว กับ น้ำпхом ао кхао каб намI will take rice and water
Nearby words: shopping and money
How much it costs, whether there is a smaller one, whether cards are accepted. A shop forgives mistakes: miss a word and they will show you the thing with their hands anyway.
- ยูโรйуроeuroThe euro does not circulate in Thailand: the currency is the baht, and the prices of the course will be in baht. The word is for talking about Europe and about prices back home
- เท่า ไหร่?тао рай?how much is it?Literally "equal to how much?". At the market one word attached to the thing is enough: kafae thao rai — "coffee how much?"
- ร้าน ค้าран кхаshop; storeThe same raan, "shop", as in the restaurant and coffeehouse, plus khaa, "to trade". The little shop by the house Thais call exactly this — raan lung, "uncle's shop"
- ตลาดталатmarketThe word comes from an ancient "place of trade", and it lives in street names too. The morning market lives until noon, the night one from sunset — two different talats
- แผงпхэнгstall; counterA separate trading stall at the market — a phaeng. It argues by ear with phaeng, "expensive": only the tone tells them apart, and the stall's rises
- คน ขายкхон кхаайsellerLiterally "person sell": who does what, Thai names through khon. A woman who sells is said with the same word
- คน ซื้อкхон сыbuyer; customerLiterally "person buy" — the pair of the seller. The buyer buys; do not swap the two at translation
- ตา ชั่งта чангscalesLiterally "eye-weighing": it is the seller who weighs, and his glance has a role here. To weigh is the same chang
- กิโลкилоkilo; kilogramThe short form of "kilogram". Half a kilo is khrueng kilo, and "one and a half" is the other way round — kilo khrueng: the half jumps to the end
- สดсатfresh; rawOne word for freshness and for raw: phak sot — fresh vegetables. The same sot names cash — "fresh" money
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “shopping and money”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “to take” in Thai?
The main word of the shop: ao nam — "I will take water". More neutral than kho, "please give", which you know
- How do you say “buyer; customer” in Thai?
Literally "person buy" — the pair of the seller. The buyer buys; do not swap the two at translation
- How do you say “shop; store” in Thai?
The same raan, "shop", as in the restaurant and coffeehouse, plus khaa, "to trade". The little shop by the house Thais call exactly this — raan lung, "uncle's shop"
- How do you say “fresh; raw” in Thai?
One word for freshness and for raw: phak sot — fresh vegetables. The same sot names cash — "fresh" money
- How do you say “seller” in Thai?
Literally "person sell": who does what, Thai names through khon. A woman who sells is said with the same word
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “to take” in Thai?
«เอา», read “ао”. In a live sentence: “ผม เอา ข้าว กับ น้ำ” — I will take rice and water. Verb, level A1, from the set “shopping and money”; written with the characters เ, อ, า.
How is “เอา” written in Latin letters?
ао. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
The main word of the shop: ao nam — "I will take water". More neutral than kho, "please give", which you know. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.