สุ ภาพ
“สุ ภาพ” (су пхаап) — polite in Thai. Adjective, level A2, topic — people and family. From Sanskrit: "good" plus "bearing". Politeness in Thai is "good bearing" — a word of letters and school. In a live sentence: “เด็ก สุ ภาพ มาก” — The child is very polite. Written with the characters ส, ุ, ภ, า, พ. One of 138 words in the set “people and family” in the Thai course.
In short
| Written in Thai | สุ ภาพ |
| Read in Latin letters | су пхаап |
| Translation | polite |
| Part of speech | adjective |
| Level | A2 |
Why it looks that way
From Sanskrit: "good" plus "bearing". Politeness in Thai is "good bearing" — a word of letters and school
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.
- เด็ก สุ ภาพ มากдек су пхаап макThe child is very polite
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
- แม่мэmother; momThe 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
- 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
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 “polite” in Thai?
From Sanskrit: "good" plus "bearing". Politeness in Thai is "good bearing" — a word of letters and school
- 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 “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 “woman” in Thai?
The pair of "man", from the same parts. The polite address to a woman is built from khun, not from this word
- 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 “polite” in Thai?
«สุ ภาพ», read “су пхаап”. In a live sentence: “เด็ก สุ ภาพ มาก” — The child is very polite. Adjective, level A2, from the set “people and family”; written with the characters ส, ุ, ภ, า, พ.
How is “สุ ภาพ” written in Latin letters?
су пхаап. 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?
From Sanskrit: "good" plus "bearing". Politeness in Thai is "good bearing" — a word of letters and school. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.