ทราย
sand
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- 1 sand
A basic noun for sand: loose, fine particles formed from rock.
sand
It refers to sand found naturally on beaches and riverbanks, as well as sand used as a material in construction and other activities.
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มีทรายอยู่ในรองเท้า mii saay yùu nay rɔɔŋtháaw There is sand in my shoe. มีทรายอยู่ในรองเท้า details
Learning notes
Explanation
ทราย means sand: loose, fine particles of rock. It is an everyday word used for naturally occurring sand as well as sand used in construction and other materials. It is normally treated as an uncountable substance. An individual grain is เม็ดทราย, “a grain of sand.” Amounts can be expressed with containers or units, as in ทรายหนึ่งถุง, “one bag of sand.” The word also appears after other nouns in compounds such as หาดทราย, “sandy beach,” and กระดาษทราย, “sandpaper.” Some dictionaries also list “hog deer,” but that meaning is highly restricted and is generally encountered in the animal name เนื้อทราย. Learners should treat “sand” as the normal meaning.
Usage
It is commonly used when talking about beaches, riverbanks, playing in sand, or sand that gets into shoes. It also appears in construction, gardening, and many everyday compound words.
Caution
Do not confuse ทราย with ดิน, which means soil or earth. Also, ทราย by itself never means sugar: sugar is น้ำตาล, while granulated sugar is น้ำตาลทราย.