กรุณา

Explanation

At its core, กรุณา evokes compassion: recognizing another person’s difficulty and being moved to help. The word is of Pali origin. Its most practical pattern is กรุณา followed by a verb phrase. This politely appeals to the listener’s consideration and asks them to do something. For a negative request, use กรุณาอย่า followed by a verb. When referring to compassion or a person’s kindness as a noun, modern Thai usually uses ความกรุณา. The verb meaning “to show compassion” also exists, but it is less common in everyday conversation and has a more elevated tone.

Usage

It is especially common in signs, announcements, forms, and professional instructions at airports, stations, hospitals, hotels, and government offices. ความกรุณา appears in formal requests, acknowledgments, and expressions of gratitude for someone’s kindness. The compassion sense may also occur in ethical, religious, or elevated writing.

Caution

Although polite, กรุณา can sound official or impersonal in casual conversation with friends. A request using ช่วย, often with หน่อย and a polite final particle, is usually more natural there. Do not treat กรุณา as a universal stand-alone equivalent of “please.” It normally introduces the requested action. Also, จะ is generally not inserted between กรุณา and the verb in this request pattern.

1 please synonyms

• ช่วย

  chûay please do

  ช่วย is common in conversational requests and also literally means “to help.” กรุณา sounds more formal and is especially common in notices, instructions, and professional settings.

• โปรด

  pròot please [formal request]

  โปรด also introduces polite requests, but it often sounds more written or authoritative, especially in rules, announcements, and official wording. กรุณา more directly appeals to courtesy or consideration.

2 show compassion synonyms

• เมตตา

  mêettaa be kind to

  เมตตา broadly conveys loving-kindness and wishing others well, and it remains fairly common in modern usage. กรุณา more strongly suggests compassion for someone in difficulty and is more formal when used as a verb.

3 compassion synonyms

• ความเมตตา

  ความเมตตา broadly means loving-kindness or benevolence. ความกรุณา can likewise mean compassion, but it is also commonly used in formal references to a favor or kindness received from someone.