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Thai

ไห้

Pronunciation

hây

ไห้

hây

cry

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  1. 1 cry、weep

It expresses crying or weeping. In modern everyday Thai, it normally appears in ร้องไห้ rather than being used on its own.

1

cry、weep

Verb⭐️1 Rarely used

It refers to shedding tears or weeping from sadness, pain, joy, or another strong emotion, usually as part of a word such as ร้องไห้.

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Learning notes

Explanation

ไห้ carries the meaning of crying, but in modern Thai it is encountered mainly as an element of words such as ร้องไห้ “to cry” and ร่ำไห้ “to weep or lament.” For practical everyday use, learners should memorize ร้องไห้ as a complete verb.

Usage

In everyday speech, ร้องไห้ is used for crying from sadness, pain, hunger, happiness, or being deeply moved. ร่ำไห้ is more likely in stories, lyrics, or news reports describing deep grief.

Caution

For everyday “cry,” use ร้องไห้ rather than ไห้ by itself. Do not confuse ไห้ with the very common word ให้, which has unrelated meanings such as “give” and “let/cause someone to do something.”

Differences from similar words

1 cry synonyms

  • ร้องไห้ is the normal everyday verb meaning “to cry.” ไห้ carries the same basic idea but is rarely used alone in modern Thai and usually occurs within ร้องไห้ or another compound.

  • ร่ำไห้ means to weep or lament in deep sorrow and is common in stories, songs, and news writing. It conveys more intense or prolonged grief than the basic idea expressed by ไห้.

Other words containing ไห้

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