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Thai

ท่า

Pronunciation

thâa

ท่า

thâa

posture

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  1. 1 posture、pose、gesture
  2. 2 pier or landing place、port or harbor、transportation terminal
  3. 3 [classifier for poses or defined movements]、[classifier for docks or landing places]

This word mainly refers to a posture, pose, or defined physical movement. It also refers to a landing place or transportation terminal and can serve as a classifier for these meanings.

1

posture、pose、gesture

Noun⭐️4 Often used

It refers to a visible posture, pose, gesture, or defined movement used in activities such as exercise, dance, and martial arts.

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2

pier or landing place、port or harbor、transportation terminal

Noun⭐️4 Often used

It originally denotes a waterside place where boats land and, by extension, a departure or arrival point for certain types of transportation.

3

[classifier for poses or defined movements]、[classifier for docks or landing places]

Classifier⭐️3 Common

It is used as a classifier when counting distinct poses or movements and also docks or landing places.

Learning notes

Explanation

The central image is a visible “form” or a defined “position” for an action. For the body, it can describe a posture, a photo pose, a yoga or dance movement, or a martial-arts form. ทำท่า followed by a verb is an important pattern. It may describe an actual gesture or mean “to act as if” or “to look about to do” something. For example, ทำท่าจะร้องไห้ means “to look as if one is about to cry.” In its place-related sense, ท่า originally refers to a waterside landing. It forms transportation terms such as ท่าเรือ, ท่ารถ, and ท่าอากาศยาน. Some dictionaries also list a verb meaning “to wait,” but it is rarely used by itself in contemporary everyday speech. รอ or คอย is normally used instead.

Usage

It is common when discussing photo poses, sitting or standing positions, yoga, exercise, dance, and martial-arts movements. When describing someone’s outward manner or attitude, it often appears in forms such as ท่าทาง, ท่าที, and ทำท่า. In transportation contexts, it appears in compounds for piers, ports, bus terminals, and airports.

Caution

The posture sense and the landing-place sense have the same spelling, so the intended meaning must be determined from context. ท่ารถ often means a terminal or boarding area where vehicles wait and depart; it is not necessarily an ordinary roadside bus stop, which is usually ป้ายรถเมล์. Also, ท่าจะ… normally expresses likelihood—“it looks as though…”—rather than a physical position for doing something.

Differences from similar words

1 posture synonyms

  • ท่วงท่า emphasizes graceful or expressive movement and bearing. ท่า is broader and can refer to an ordinary position as well as a formal exercise or martial-arts movement.

  • อิริยาบถ is a somewhat formal term for a bodily state such as standing, walking, sitting, or lying down. ท่า is more everyday and also covers photo poses and specific movements.

2 pier or landing place synonyms

  • สถานี is the general word for an established station, such as a train or bus station. ท่า focuses on a place of boarding, landing, or departure and is especially common for boats and some road transportation.

Component words

Other words containing ท่า

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