ไกล

Explanation

The core idea of ไกล is considerable distance from a reference point, whether that reference is a place, time, or state. It describes a state in บ้านอยู่ไกล (“the house is far away”). After a verb, as in ไปไกล (“go far”) or เดินไกล (“walk a long way”), it describes how far the action extends. Use ไกลจาก followed by a place or reference point to mean “far from.” The comparative is ไกลกว่า (“farther”), and the superlative is ไกลที่สุด (“farthest”). The word also extends naturally to time and progress. For example, อนาคตยังอีกไกล means that the future is still a long way off. In the fixed expression มองการณ์ไกล, it refers to foresight rather than literal vision.

Usage

It is extremely common in directions, travel, and conversations about the location of homes, shops, stations, and other places. Useful everyday patterns include ไกลไหม (“Is it far?”), ไม่ไกล (“not far”), and ไกลแค่ไหน (“How far?”). It is also used for travel distance, how far someone can see, future time, and the distance remaining before a goal is reached.

Caution

Use ไกลจาก to say that something is “far from” a place or reference point. ไกล describes distance; if the intended meaning is that something takes a long time, use ใช้เวลานาน instead. Do not confuse it with the similarly spelled ใกล้, which means “near.”

1 far synonyms

• ห่าง

  hàaŋ far apart

  ห่าง emphasizes a gap or separation between two things and can also describe emotional distance. ไกล focuses more directly on something being far from a reference point.

• ห่างไกล

  ห่างไกล gives stronger emphasis to remoteness or separation and is common for remote places and figurative distance. ไกล is the more basic, broadly used word for “far.”