แม่
“แม่” (мэ) — mother; mom in Thai. Noun, level A1, topic — people and family. The same word addresses any woman older than you — a shop assistant, the owner of a stall — and it is polite. The word also lives in the kitchen line: mae khrua — "mother of the kitchen", the cook. In a live sentence: “แม่ ทำ อาหาร” — Mom cooks food. Written with the characters แ, ม, ่.
In short
| Written in Thai | แม่ |
| Read in Latin letters | мэ |
| Translation | mother; mom |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
The same word addresses any woman older than you — a shop assistant, the owner of a stall — and it is polite. The word also lives in the kitchen line: mae khrua — "mother of the kitchen", the cook
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 ทำ อาหารмэ тхам аханMom cooks food
Nearby words: people and family
Mum, friend, child, neighbour. The first thing people ask you about, and the first thing you tell about yourself.
- เพื่อนпхиуанfriendBroader than the close "friend": a buddy, an acquaintance, a companion. The word "buddy" in Thai is the same one — the degrees of friendship are set by life, not by the dictionary
- ครอบครัวкхропкхруаfamilyBoth kh's hold together: khrop-khrua. The Thai family lives wider than the nuclear one: aunt, grandfather and cousins count as one house
- พ่อпхёfather; dadThe pair of "mother" with the same rule: an older man unknown to you is addressed the same way. "Dad likes tea" is pho chop chaa — and not a single extra word
- เด็กдекchildThe same syllable as in the school name of the letter "do dek". An adult will say "dek chai" for a boy and "dek ying" for a girl, but the general word is one — dek
- 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
- คนкхонperson; humanBoth "person" and the classifier for people: saam khon — "three people". In compounds khon means "the one who does": the seller is "person sell"
- ผู้ ชายпхуу чаайmanLiterally "male person": phuu is the polite prefix "person". Its pair, phuu ying, "woman", is assembled the same way
- ผู้ หญิงпхуу йингwomanThe pair of "man", from the same parts. The polite address to a woman is built from khun, not from this word
- หนุ่มнумyoung manA young man, a warm word about one's own. For a girl there is sao, and both words are adjective and noun at once
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “people and family”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “mother; mom” in Thai?
The same word addresses any woman older than you — a shop assistant, the owner of a stall — and it is polite. The word also lives in the kitchen line: mae khrua — "mother of the kitchen", the cook
- How do you say “person; human” in Thai?
Both "person" and the classifier for people: saam khon — "three people". In compounds khon means "the one who does": the seller is "person sell"
- How do you say “father; dad” in Thai?
The pair of "mother" with the same rule: an older man unknown to you is addressed the same way. "Dad likes tea" is pho chop chaa — and not a single extra word
- How do you say “young man” in Thai?
A young man, a warm word about one's own. For a girl there is sao, and both words are adjective and noun at once
- 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 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 “mother; mom” in Thai?
«แม่», read “мэ”. In a live sentence: “แม่ ทำ อาหาร” — Mom cooks food. Noun, level A1, from the set “people and family”; written with the characters แ, ม, ่.
How is “แม่” written in Latin letters?
мэ. 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 same word addresses any woman older than you — a shop assistant, the owner of a stall — and it is polite. The word also lives in the kitchen line: mae khrua — "mother of the kitchen", the cook. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.