Thai Pronouns: How to Say I, You, He and She in Thai

To say “I” in Thai, a man says ผม pǒm and a woman says ฉัน chǎn. “You” is คุณ kun, “he” and “she” are both เขา kǎo, “we” is เรา rao and “it” is มัน man. With these six words you can speak politely in almost any situation. The rest of Thai pronoun use is about two habits: leaving pronouns out when the meaning is clear, and replacing them with names and family words such as พี่ pîi (older sibling).

Thai pronouns are easy in one way: they never change form. ผม is both “I” and “me”, เขา is “he”, “him”, “she” and “her”, and verbs do not conjugate. What makes them interesting is that a pronoun says something about the relationship. Choosing between ผม, ฉัน, หนู or เรา depends on your gender, your age, the other person’s age and how close you are.

Thai pronouns at a glance

You do not need all of them on day one. If you are a man, learn ผม, คุณ, เขา, เรา. If you are a woman, learn ฉัน, คุณ, เขา, เรา. Add the others as you meet them.

How to say “I” in Thai

ผม pǒm: the male “I”

ผม is what almost every Thai man uses, with friends, with his boss, in a shop. It is polite without being stiff. The same word also means “hair” (of the head), which is a common joke among beginners. It naturally goes with the male particle ครับ kráp:

ผมชื่อฮิวโก้ครับ pǒm chʉ̂ʉ hiu-gôo kráp — My name is Hugo.

This is exactly how Hugo introduces himself in the very first story, Hugo introduces himself. In ceremonies or when addressing someone very senior, men sometimes use the more humble กระผม grà-pǒm, but you will rarely need it.

ฉัน chǎn and ดิฉัน dì-chǎn: the female “I”

Women use ฉัน in everyday speech. In fast conversation it often sounds like chán, with a high tone. ดิฉัน dì-chǎn is the formal version: a job interview, a presentation, a call centre. ฉัน is also the neutral “I” of song lyrics and novels, whoever the speaker is, so you will hear men sing it.

ฉันชื่อมะลิค่ะ chǎn chʉ̂ʉ má-lí kâ — My name is Mali.

With people they know well, many Thai women avoid ฉัน, which can sound a little distant, and refer to themselves by their nickname instead (see below).

หนู nǔu: children and young women

หนู literally means “mouse”. Children of both sexes use it for “I” when talking to adults, and many young women keep using it with older people, such as a teacher, a boss or a friend’s mother. It sounds humble and affectionate. Adults also use หนู to say “you” to a child: หนูชื่ออะไร nǔu chʉ̂ʉ à-rai is how you ask a little girl or boy their name.

เรา rao: “we”, and a casual “I”

เรา means “we”, but between friends it is also a relaxed, gender-neutral “I”. Students and young people use it a lot. In context there is rarely any confusion.

กู and มึง: recognise them, don’t use them

กู guu (“I”) and มึง mʉng (“you”) are old Thai pronouns that are now very informal. Close friends of the same age use them with each other, and you will hear them constantly in films, comedy and online comments. But they are also the pronouns of anger. From a foreigner, said to someone who is not a close friend, they are simply rude. Learn to recognise them; leave them out of your own Thai.

How to say “you” in Thai

คุณ kun is the safe, polite “you”: for a stranger, a hotel receptionist, a colleague, someone you have just met. Placed before a first name, it also works as “Mr.” or “Ms.”: คุณมะลิ kun má-lí. Note that Thais use first names (often nicknames) with คุณ, never surnames.

Other words for “you” depend on the relationship:

• เธอ təə: to a partner, a close friend or someone younger. Very frequent in songs. In writing, the same word means “she”.
• ท่าน tân: very respectful, for monks, high officials or in formal letters.
• แก gɛɛ and นาย naai: informal, between friends. แก is also used by older people to younger ones. Avoid both with strangers.

In practice, though, the most natural “you” is often not a pronoun at all, but a name or a family word. คุณ is always correct, but with a street vendor or a waiter it can sound polite and a bit distant.

He, she, it and they

เขา kǎo means both “he” and “she”: Thai does not mark gender in the third person. In everyday speech it is usually pronounced with a high tone, káo, and it is often spelled เค้า in text messages. It also covers the vague “they” of “they say…”: เขาว่า… kǎo wâa….

มัน man is “it”, for animals and objects:

แมวชื่อส้ม มันชอบกินปลา mɛɛo chʉ̂ʉ sôm, man chɔ̂ɔp gin bplaa — The cat is called Som. It likes eating fish.

Applied to a person, มัน is contemptuous (or, between close friends, very familiar). Many pet owners also avoid it and simply use their animal’s name.

Plural pronouns with พวก

พวก pûak means “group”. Put it before a pronoun to make it clearly plural: พวกเรา pûak-rao (we, as a group), พวกคุณ pûak-kun (you, plural), พวกเขา pûak-kǎo (they). It is optional when the context already makes the number clear: เรา alone can mean “we”, and เขา can mean “they”.

To address a whole group, Thais more often say ทุกคน túk-kon, “everyone”: สวัสดีทุกคน sà-wàt-dii túk-kon, “hello everyone”.

Possessives: there is no “my” in Thai

Thai has no separate possessive forms. You put the pronoun after the noun, with or without ของ kɔ̌ɔng (“of, belonging to”):

In speech, ของ is usually dropped when the meaning is obvious. For “myself, yourself”, Thai uses ตัวเอง dtua-eeng.

Dropping pronouns: the most natural Thai

Thai leaves out the subject (and often the object) whenever the situation makes it clear. This is not lazy speech; it is normal grammar. Compare this exchange between two neighbours in a soi:

ไปไหน bpai nǎi — (Where are you) going?

ไปตลาด bpai dtà-làat — (I’m) going to the market.

กินข้าวหรือยัง gin kâao rʉ̌ʉ yang — (Have you) eaten yet?

There is not a single pronoun in these three sentences, and no Thai speaker would add one. A learner who starts every sentence with ผม or ฉัน sounds like a textbook. The rule of thumb: state the subject once, then drop it until it changes. Politeness does not depend on the pronoun anyway; it comes from the end-of-sentence particles ครับ and ค่ะ, explained in our guide to Thai polite particles.

Names and family words instead of pronouns

This is the part that surprises learners most. Thais very often talk about themselves and to others using a name or a role, where English would use “I” and “you”.

Nicknames

Almost every Thai has a short nickname, ชื่อเล่น chʉ̂ʉ-lên, and uses it in place of “I”. When Mali says มะลิไม่รู้ค่ะ má-lí mâi rúu kâ, literally “Mali doesn’t know”, she simply means “I don’t know”, in a warm, slightly playful way. Calling someone by their nickname instead of คุณ works the same way for “you”.

พี่ and น้อง: older and younger

พี่ pîi means “older sibling” and น้อง nɔ́ɔng “younger sibling”, but they are used for anyone older or younger than you. An older colleague is พี่ and calls himself พี่: พี่ไปก่อนนะ pîi bpai gɔ̀ɔn ná means “I’m off first, okay?”. A younger person calls him พี่ for “you” and uses ผม, ฉัน or หนู for “I”.

Family words and titles

Parents say แม่ mɛ̂ɛ (mum) or พ่อ pɔ̂ɔ (dad) for “I” when talking to their children. A grandmother says ยาย yaai: ยายทำข้าวต้มให้ yaai tam kâao-dtôm hâi, “Grandma made rice soup for you”, means “I made it”. Teachers are ครู kruu, doctors are หมอ mɔ̌ɔ, both as “you” and as “I”. The app’s name, Kru May, is exactly this: ครูเมย์ kruu-mee, “Teacher May”.

You will see this logic in action in the stories Mali’s family and The little brother, where everyone is addressed by their place in the family. Our article on Thai family words lists all these terms, including the ones you use with strangers.

Which Thai pronouns should you use?

Three practical rules cover most of it:

1. Pick one “I” and stick to it: ผม for men, ฉัน for women.
2. Use คุณ until you know the person, then switch to พี่, น้อง or their nickname.
3. Drop the pronoun once the subject is clear, and keep ครับ or ค่ะ at the end.

How to practise Thai pronouns

The best way to absorb pronouns is to watch who says what to whom, which is hard to learn from a list. In the Kru May stories, Hugo uses ผม, Mali uses ฉัน, a five-year-old brother and a grandmother join in, and every word is tappable to see its meaning and tone. Grammar notes appear as small badges the first time a pattern such as a dropped pronoun shows up. If you are starting from scratch, our overview of Thai grammar basics explains how these pronouns fit into a Thai sentence.