A bit confused about the difference between  จิตใจ and just จิต. They both seem to be nouns that mean 'the mind, spirit'. Are they just freely interchangeable, is one spoken and one written.. or what is the subtle difference if neither of these?

Thanks

I don't think there is any point in 'pinning down' in English the meaning of any words because you can often find a word in a context where the English doesn't make sense.
There need not be any difference between ใจ จิตใจ . You probably know heart and mind but better than that, where you find them, interpret them.


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Thanks tgeezer for your reply, I appreciate that.

Xkkpafi,

 

I think  your question is a good one. What you will see with many common Thai words is that they are most often used with other nouns and adjectives to form compounds. Thus ใจ is used in phrases like "ใจแคบ" (selfish) "ใจกว้าง"  (generous) "ใจลอย" (absentminded) "ใจดี" (kind-hearted) and สนใจ (interested in). 

As for noun and verb forms,  there is จิตใจ (mind, spirit), as you point out, หายใจ (to breathe) and หัวใจ (the physical heart). 

So, rather than thinking of "จิตใจ" and "ใจ" as disparate words, I suggest you think of ใจ as a building block word. What do you think?