Thai word
ค่ะ
khâ
礼貌助词（女性用）
How to pronounce ค่ะ
Falling tone
Starts high, falls quickly to low
ค่ะ is written khâ and carries the falling tone. Listen first, then copy the pitch — in Thai the pitch belongs to the word the way a vowel does.
Same syllable, five tones
Thai uses pitch to tell words apart. Below is the same syllable on each of the five tones — nothing changes but the pitch. Say your word (highlighted) on one of the other four and a Thai listener hears a different word, or none at all.
-
kha
Mid tone
-
khà
Low tone
- ค่ะ
khâ
Falling tone
-
khǎ
Rising tone
-
khá
High tone
What does ค่ะ mean?
Translation
礼貌助词（女性用）
ค่ะ (khâ) means "礼貌助词（女性用）" in Thai.
Example sentences
เงินในบัตรเหลือน้อยแล้ว ต้องเติมก่อนค่ะ
ngoen nai bàt lěua nói láew dtông dtoeem gòn ká
bàt 里没多少 ngoen 了，我得先 dtoeem。
เลี้ยวขวาตรงนี้แล้วจอดข้างหน้าเลยค่ะ
líaw kwǎa dtrong-níi láew jòt kâang-nâa loei ká
在这里右转，然后停在前面。
จอดตรงนี้เลยนะคะ ขอบคุณค่ะ
jòt dtrong-níi loei ná ká kòp-kun ká
就停在这里吧，谢谢。（口语）
Test yourself
One word from the same tone group. Its meaning is not on this page — see whether it stuck.
What does this word mean?
ห้า
hâa
Related words
More words with the falling tone — the same pitch shape, different words.
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