มะเขือเทศ
tomato
A native Thai recording for this word is on the way. Please check back soon.
- 1 tomato
This is the standard Thai word for a tomato, referring to either the edible fruit or the plant that produces it.
tomato
It refers to the tomato eaten as food and, when discussing cultivation, to the tomato plant itself.
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ฉันชอบกินมะเขือเทศ chǎn chɔ̂ɔp kin mákhʉ̌athêet I like eating tomatoes. ฉันชอบกินมะเขือเทศ details
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ใส่มะเขือเทศลงในสลัด sày mákhʉ̌athêet loŋ nay salàt Put the tomatoes in the salad. ใส่มะเขือเทศลงในสลัด details
Learning notes
Explanation
มะเขือเทศ is the ordinary, neutral word used for tomatoes in conversation, shopping, cooking, and gardening. It most often refers to the edible fruit but can also mean the plant when the context concerns growing it. Individual tomatoes are commonly counted with ลูก, as in มะเขือเทศสองลูก, “two tomatoes.” Tomato plants are counted with ต้น. Although the word can be analyzed as มะเขือ plus เทศ, learners will generally find it most useful to memorize มะเขือเทศ as a single plant name.
Usage
It is commonly used when buying groceries, discussing ingredients or food preferences, ordering food with or without tomatoes, and talking about growing tomato plants.
Caution
Do not shorten it to มะเขือ when you specifically mean “tomato,” since มะเขือ generally refers to eggplant or related varieties. Also, ซอสมะเขือเทศ may mean either ketchup or tomato sauce depending on the context.