แม่ กุญ แจ
“แม่ กุญ แจ” (мэ кун джэ) — door lock in Thai. Noun, level A1, topic — home and things. Literally "mother of the key": Thai feels the lock as the key's mother — the one who holds it. The kunjae, "key", you know. In a live sentence: “แม่ กุญ แจ พัง แล้ว” — The lock is broken. Written with the characters แ, ม, ่, ก, ุ, ญ, แ, จ. One of 193 words in the set “home and things” in the Thai course.
In short
| Written in Thai | แม่ กุญ แจ |
| Read in Latin letters | мэ кун джэ |
| Translation | door lock |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
Literally "mother of the key": Thai feels the lock as the key's mother — the one who holds it. The kunjae, "key", 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.
- แม่ กุญ แจ พัง แล้วмэ кун джэ пханг лаэоThe lock is broken
Nearby words: home and things
Room, key, water, electricity. You will need them on your first day in a rented flat.
- บ้านбанhouse; homeThe house, and home in the sense of homeland: khon baan — "a person of the house", one's own folk. Thai says klap ban, "return home", every evening
- คอน โดкхон доapartment; condoEnglish condominium, the everyday Thai word for an apartment in a high-rise. A separate dwelling is baan, "house" — a difference in price, not in style
- ที่ พักти пхакlodgingLiterally "place to live": phak is to stop over and to live. It names both housing and a night's lodging on the road
- ห้องхонгroomAny room and premises: add a word and you get the name of the room. Its classifier is hong itself
- ครัวкхруаkitchenThe kitchen itself and the household hearth. The cook is "father of the kitchen", and that word will arrive in the professions lesson
- ห้อง น้ำхонг намbathroomLiterally "water room" — there one both washes and finds the toilet. "Where is the bathroom?" is the first question in a stranger's house
- ระ เบียงра биангbalconyAn open balcony ledge: Thai houses love it — laundry dries there and pots of herbs stand
- ชั้นчанfloor; storyFloor, layer, class — one word about levels. "I am on the third floor" is yu chan saam: the number goes right after the word
- ลิฟต์лифтlift; elevatorEnglish lift; the final t does not drop. In a condo without a lift the upper floors are cheaper — and everyone knows it
- บัน ไดбан дайstaircase; stairsA staircase and a stepladder. The word is assembled from "plank" and "walking": planks — and a staircase
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “home and things”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “door lock” in Thai?
Literally "mother of the key": Thai feels the lock as the key's mother — the one who holds it. The kunjae, "key", you know
- How do you say “balcony” in Thai?
An open balcony ledge: Thai houses love it — laundry dries there and pots of herbs stand
- How do you say “lodging” in Thai?
Literally "place to live": phak is to stop over and to live. It names both housing and a night's lodging on the road
- How do you say “staircase; stairs” in Thai?
A staircase and a stepladder. The word is assembled from "plank" and "walking": planks — and a staircase
- How do you say “bathroom” in Thai?
Literally "water room" — there one both washes and finds the toilet. "Where is the bathroom?" is the first question in a stranger's house
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 “door lock” in Thai?
«แม่ กุญ แจ», read “мэ кун джэ”. In a live sentence: “แม่ กุญ แจ พัง แล้ว” — The lock is broken. Noun, level A1, from the set “home and things”; written with the characters แ, ม, ่, ก, ุ, ญ, แ, จ.
How is “แม่ กุญ แจ” written in Latin letters?
мэ кун джэ. 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?
Literally "mother of the key": Thai feels the lock as the key's mother — the one who holds it. The kunjae, "key", 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.