What Does นะ "na" Mean?

[dreamweaver]

Hi,

When i emailed my Thai friend to tell her i'm coming, she said "I'll plan for us na"..."See you soon na"

What does "na" means in Thai?

[Globeliner]

I would say 'na' is the Thai version of 'ok'

[patri]

Na is the soften particle put after a sentence so that it doesn't sound too abrupt (just like ka and krap are polite particles)

[meadish_sweetball]

Both replies are correct.

It softens the statement a little. Similar to "ok" tagged onto English sentences, it also is a mild request for confirmation that the other party is 'in' on what is being said.

[dreamweaver]

I see...thanks folks

[Grover]

This may be an incorrect observation, but I notice women tend to use this particle more often than men.

[khaojao]

my pii chai uses "na" alot when he talks to me...obviously i'm someone who needs alot of persuasion hahaha

[goldenmile]

i have heard filipinos use it too, and a pakistani guy i used to work with

[LonelyAmerican]

Depending on what English speaking country you come from, นะ probably has an equivalent in your culture. Here in the US, people will often make a statement and then say "huh", kind of hinting that the listener should probably agree with the statement, but not really expecting an answer. In Canada, people often put an "eh" on the end of their sentences. Not sure about Britain or Australia.

Hi,

When i emailed my Thai friend to tell her i'm coming, she said "I'll plan for us na"..."See you soon na"

What does "na" means in Thai?

Edited April 3, 2007 by LonelyAmerican

[Rinrada]

Na ...means "at"......eg ....Rinrada Na Krungthrep......Na Chiang Mai......etc....

[LonelyAmerican]

You might be thinking of the word ณ (one of the only 2 one-letter Thai words I know of). It is also pronounced na, but is a different word than นะ. When Thai words are written with western letters, it is difficult to tell what is really meant.

Na ...means "at"......eg ....Rinrada Na Krungthrep......Na Chiang Mai......etc....

[noungning]

^correct lonelyamerican.

as for the meaning of na, i don't think there is a meaning to it, it's just an expression of comprehension to the person being spoken to.

for example, "i am going to see u na ka" informing the person i will go see them, or if used with the questioning kah it will sound like a question "i am going see u na kaah?"

ah ok lonelyamerican said it, it's like the expressions "huh or huh?" for americans and "eh or eh?" for canadians

[technocracy]

Hi,

When i emailed my Thai friend to tell her i'm coming, she said "I'll plan for us na"..."See you soon na"

What does "na" means in Thai?

na is an ending particle which is prompting you for a response, take your examples:

'I'lll plan for us na..' - you answer

'See you soon na..' - you answer etc etc.

It's used very regularly here in Laos and it's used by everyone men and women.

[junkofdavid2]

i have heard filipinos use it too, and a pakistani guy i used to work with

Them Filipinos use "na" but have a totally different meaning for it from the Thais.

My Filipina ex-girlfriend would use it to mean "already"... similar to the Thai "Lew".

"I'm going home na", meant "i'm going home already".

Likewise, Filipinos use the word "ka" a lot but it also has a totally different meaning from the Thai "ka".

Edited April 7, 2007 by junkofdavid2

[sceadugenga]

i have heard filipinos use it too, and a pakistani guy i used to work with

Them Filipinos use "na" but have a totally different meaning for it from the Thais.

My Filipina ex-girlfriend would use it to mean "already"... similar to the Thai "Lew".

"I'm going home na", meant "i'm going home already".

Likewise, Filipinos use the word "ka" a lot but it also has a totally different meaning from the Thai "ka".

I like the Philipino o-o for yes,

I noticed it was used in Vietnam also but was told it was disrespectful unless used by young people amongst themselves. Same same our lazy uh uh for no I suppose.

[fishhooks]

Thanks for the above explanations.

After a 3 month visit recently, I was really wondering on the translation of "krap" (sounding more like "kup") as I noticed more than in the past this word being spoken by males, particularly on television, often several times in only a few sentences.

Are they really adding emphasis to being polite or is this creeping more so into Thai language, just as the word "LIKE" seems to have become part of the English language to be used excessively by younger American and Australian people?

[pibill]

Hi,

When i emailed my Thai friend to tell her i'm coming, she said "I'll plan for us na"..."See you soon na"

What does "na" means in Thai?

The general meaning is a lot like "is that ok?", or "is that correct?" or even "do you agree?", usually expecting an affirmative response to validate what the individual was saying.

[patri]

Thanks for the above explanations.

After a 3 month visit recently, I was really wondering on the translation of "krap" (sounding more like "kup") as I noticed more than in the past this word being spoken by males, particularly on television, often several times in only a few sentences.

Are they really adding emphasis to being polite or is this creeping more so into Thai language, just as the word "LIKE" seems to have become part of the English language to be used excessively by younger American and Australian people?

[/quote

It's definitely not a fashion. it's an established social manner that's always there for formal situations like being on television. :-)

[noungning]

Thanks for the above explanations.

After a 3 month visit recently, I was really wondering on the translation of "krap" (sounding more like "kup") as I noticed more than in the past this word being spoken by males, particularly on television, often several times in only a few sentences.

Are they really adding emphasis to being polite or is this creeping more so into Thai language, just as the word "LIKE" seems to have become part of the English language to be used excessively by younger American and Australian people?

krup or kup either way is pronounced by males. this is more of an acknowledgement to something.

2 examples but there's a billion more:

-someone tells you to go somewhere, you acknowledge by saying "krup"

-someone asks something, "are you traveling?" you answer "chai krup" or just "krup" - meaning yes or you can just say kup

additionally like patri said, this isn't something that is "new" it's been around forever. but back in the days it was "krup kra pom" or "korrup pom" but you also still hear people saying "krup pom" to sound more sincere and politer.

[kojac_phx]

I would agree it is more often used by females, but far from exclusively. From my observation, males rarely use it when asking for agreement, typically only to make a statement softer (i.e. when wishing the gf goodnight 'fan dii, na' or sweet dreams). Not commanding, but suggesting. My two cents...

[JasonMacq]

Guys, krap is used by men and kah is used by women. It has no equivalent in English and is not a 'tie down' like 'is that right?' like some have suggested.

It is almost identical in meaning to 'desu' in Japanese, it is just added at the end of a sentence to symobolically note politeness. But similar also to 'Hai' in Japanese it is used to confirm that a statement is true. This is different to 'yes' in English (same with Hai), it translates more correctly to 'that's correct'

e.g. English - did you go swimming today? - answer 'yes'

English - oh you didn't go swimming today - 'answert 'no'

Thai/Japanese did you go swimming today? - answer 'kap/Hai'

Thai/Japanese oh you didn't go swimming today - answer 'kap/Hai'

[cdnmatt]

I don't know, but I was taught "na" had two different meanings, depending on tone. นะ is to soften a statement, whereas น่ะ is used more to command something. For example:

นะ = "We will goto this place, ok?"

น่ะ = "We WILL go to this place!"

[nalaknarak]

Na can be quite confusing. I'm still not used to the different meanings of it.

Watch this clip, it might help.

[Murf]

heh heh... i was just going to post that clip.

[bifftastic]

just to add, up in Chiang Rai, they use 'na' but when it's the 'question' version of it,as in something like 'bpai duay gan na?' the 'na' will be replaced by 'noh?'

I'm not sure if this is heard in other parts of the country?

[ChAoS87]

'noh' is more likely to be used in suggestion for an agreement. For example, today weather is good, don't you think so? Wan nee agaat dee, noh?

[keo]

how is it that น่ะ can be mid or falling tone?

[SantiSuk]

The English use 'you know'? a lot or 'right?' at the end of sentences to similar effect. The Welsh traditionally used 'is it?'. The Scots 'reet?' (right)

[bifftastic]

'noh' is more likely to be used in suggestion for an agreement. For example, today weather is good, don't you think so? Wan nee agaat dee, noh?

Yes, that was my understanding too as in ...'we're coming too, right?' but is it a 'northern thing'? or is it heard all over? (I've not had that much exposure to Thai in the rest of the country )

[SantiSuk]

The English use 'you know'? a lot or 'right?' at the end of sentences to similar effect. The Welsh traditionally used 'is it?'. The Scots 'reet?' (right)

And forgot - the other traditional English na was to put 'what?' at the end of a sentence. Not used in this generation except by absurd toffs or mickey takers