น้ำ
water
A native Thai recording for this word is on the way. Please check back soon.
- 1 water、liquid、fluid、juice
A basic word for water and, more broadly, liquids. By itself it usually means “water,” but it can also refer to a body of water and appears in many names for drinks, bodily fluids, and liquid products.
water、liquid、fluid、juice
Primarily refers to water used for drinking, washing, or cooking, and can extend more broadly to fluids such as juice and bodily fluids.
-
ดื่มน้ำ dʉ̀ʉm náam drink water ดื่มน้ำ details
-
ขอน้ำหน่อยค่ะ khɔ̌ɔ náam nɔ̀ɔy khà Could I have some water, please? ขอน้ำหน่อยค่ะ details
Show more (1)
-
น้ำสองขวด náam sɔ̌ɔŋ khùat two bottles of water น้ำสองขวด details
Learning notes
Explanation
น้ำ is one of the most basic nouns in everyday Thai. On its own, it normally means “water,” as in ดื่มน้ำ “drink water” and ใช้น้ำ “use water.” Its range is broader than English “water” because it combines with other words to name drinks, juices, bodily fluids, condiments, and liquid products. For example, น้ำตา means “tears,” น้ำลาย “saliva,” น้ำปลา “fish sauce,” and น้ำหอม “perfume.” These combinations are best learned as complete words. Quantities of water are normally expressed with a container or unit: น้ำหนึ่งแก้ว “one glass of water,” น้ำสองขวด “two bottles of water,” or น้ำสามลิตร “three liters of water.” น้ำ also occurs in abstract compounds such as น้ำใจ “kindness, generosity” and น้ำเสียง “tone of voice.” Those abstract meanings belong to the fixed compounds and should not normally be assigned freely to น้ำ by itself.
Usage
It is used constantly when drinking or requesting water and when discussing cooking, washing, or bathing. It also appears in conversations about rivers, the sea, tides, and floods, as well as in names for drinks, condiments, bodily fluids, and liquid products.
Caution
Hot water is normally น้ำร้อน, literally “hot water.” Compounds beginning with น้ำ are not always predictable from their individual parts; for example, น้ำแข็ง means “ice.” น้ำส้ม can mean either orange juice or vinegar depending on context, so pay attention to the surrounding words and situation.
Differences from similar words
1 water synonyms
-
ของเหลว is the general or scientific term for matter in a liquid state, contrasted with solids and gases. น้ำ usually means water in everyday use and extends to juices, bodily fluids, and similar substances in compounds.
-
น้ำเปล่า specifically means plain water, as opposed to juice, tea, or another flavored drink. น้ำ is the broader basic word and can also relate to other liquids depending on context.