Learning Thai the Easy Way > Reading Thai > Tones Marks

There are four tones marks in the Thai language. These are not used for every word. When they are used you will see them above the initial consonant of the syllable. If there is a vowel above the consonant then the tone mark will appear above it. It may seem confusing that there are five tones but only four tone marks. This is because there are other factors which determine which tone to use. These include the class of the initial and final consonants (low, middle and high) and the vowel sound (short or long).

mai eak
(low)

mai toh
(falling)

mai dtree
(high)

mai juttawa
(rising)

 

Go to learn Lesson 2 and lesson 4 to see how these tone marks are used.

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