A1 Basic Verbs 3 min read Facile

Maîtriser le verbe 'Kin' (manger)

The verb kin is your universal word for eating and drinking, requiring no conjugation changes.
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Grammar Rule in 30 Seconds

The verb 'kin' (กิน) is the most common way to say 'eat' in Thai and is used for almost all food and drinks.

  • Use 'kin' for eating food: 'chan kin khao' (I eat rice).
  • Use 'kin' for drinking liquids: 'kin nam' (drink water).
  • Add 'mai' before 'kin' to say 'don't eat': 'mai kin' (don't eat).
Subject + กิน (kin) + Object

Overview

Aperçu
La plupart des apprenants de thaï restent bloqués sur le mot kin (กิน). C'est la façon la plus courante de dire manger. Considérez-le comme votre couteau suisse pour les repas.
Que vous mangiez de la nourriture de rue ou que vous soyez assis pour un dîner chic, kin est votre meilleur ami. C'est simple, court et utilisé par tout le monde, des tout-petits aux PDG. Vous ne trouverez pas de tableaux de conjugaison complexes ici car les verbes thaïlandais ne changent pas en fonction de la personne qui parle.
Sérieusement, pas de drame
je mange, tu manges, il mange
. Juste un mot, une forme, et vous êtes prêt.

Verb 'Kin' Usage

Form Thai English
Affirmative
ฉันกิน
I eat
Negative
ฉันไม่กิน
I don't eat
Question
กินไหม
Do you eat?
Past
กินแล้ว
Already ate
Future
จะกิน
Will eat
Continuous
กำลังกิน
Am eating

Meanings

The verb 'kin' is the fundamental Thai word for consuming food or liquids. It is versatile and used in almost all daily contexts.

1

Consuming food

The act of eating solid food.

“กินข้าว (kin khao) - eat rice”

“กินขนม (kin khanom) - eat snacks”

2

Consuming liquids

The act of drinking liquids.

“กินน้ำ (kin nam) - drink water”

“กินกาแฟ (kin ka-fae) - drink coffee”

Reference Table

Reference table for Maîtriser le verbe 'Kin' (manger)
Form Thai Context
Casual
kin
Friends/Family
Polite (Male)
kin krub
Strangers/Seniors
Polite (Female)
kin ka
Strangers/Seniors
Question
kin mai?
Asking others
Negative
mai kin
Refusing food
Formal
rap-pra-tan
Official events

Spectre de formalité

Formel
ดิฉันกำลังรับประทานอาหารค่ะ

ดิฉันกำลังรับประทานอาหารค่ะ (Eating)

Neutre
ฉันกำลังกินข้าว

ฉันกำลังกินข้าว (Eating)

Informel
กินข้าวอยู่

กินข้าวอยู่ (Eating)

Argot
แดกข้าวอยู่

แดกข้าวอยู่ (Eating)

The Kin Universe

kin

Food

  • khao rice

Drink

  • nam water

Casual vs Formal

Casual
kin eat
Formal
rap-pra-tan dine

Politeness Check

1

Are you female?

YES
Use 'ka'
NO
Use 'krub'
2

Is the person older?

YES
Use 'ka/krub'
NO ↓

Everyday Usage

🍜

Meals

  • • khao
  • • ar-han chao
  • • ar-han yen

Exemples par niveau

1

ฉันกินข้าว

I eat rice

2

กินน้ำไหม

Do you want to drink water?

3

ไม่กิน

I don't eat

4

กินขนม

Eat snacks

1

วันนี้กินอะไร

What are you eating today?

2

เขาไม่กินเนื้อ

He doesn't eat meat

3

กินกาแฟกันไหม

Shall we drink coffee?

4

ฉันกินข้าวแล้ว

I have already eaten

1

คุณกินข้าวหรือยัง

Have you eaten yet?

2

อย่ากินเยอะเกินไป

Don't eat too much

3

เขาชอบกินอาหารไทย

He likes to eat Thai food

4

เราไปกินข้าวกันเถอะ

Let's go eat

1

การกินอาหารที่ดีต่อสุขภาพเป็นสิ่งสำคัญ

Eating healthy food is important

2

เขาชวนฉันไปกินข้าวเย็น

He invited me to dinner

3

ฉันไม่ค่อยได้กินอาหารบ้าน

I don't often eat home-cooked food

4

คุณกินอะไรมาหรือยัง

Have you eaten anything yet?

1

เขาเป็นคนกินง่ายอยู่ง่าย

He is a person who is easy to please regarding food

2

อย่ากินแรงเพื่อน

Don't take advantage of your friends

3

เขากินเงินเดือนสูงมาก

He earns a very high salary

4

การกินอยู่ของเขาเปลี่ยนไป

His way of living has changed

1

กินกันไม่ลงจริงๆ

They are evenly matched

2

เขากินบ้านกินเมือง

He is very corrupt

3

กินใจความสำคัญ

To grasp the essence

4

กินลมชมวิว

To enjoy the breeze and the view

Facile à confondre

Mastering the Verb 'Kin' (Eat) vs Kin vs Than

Learners don't know when to be polite.

Mastering the Verb 'Kin' (Eat) vs Kin vs Dume

Learners think Dume is the standard word for drink.

Mastering the Verb 'Kin' (Eat) vs Kin vs Boriphok

Learners use Boriphok in casual speech.

Erreurs courantes

✗

Kin khao mai

✓

Kin khao mai?

Missing question intonation.
✗

Kin water

✓

Kin nam

Using English words.
✗

Chan kin

✓

Chan kin khao

Incomplete sentence.
✗

Mai kin khao

✓

Chan mai kin khao

Missing subject.
✗

Kin khao laew

✓

Kin khao laew (with falling tone)

Tone error.
✗

Kin khao yet

✓

Kin khao laew

Wrong past tense marker.
✗

Kin khao will

✓

Ja kin khao

Wrong word order.
✗

Kin with boss

✓

Than with boss

Wrong register.
✗

Kin khao mai?

✓

Than khao mai khrap?

Too informal.
✗

Kin khao for 1 hour

✓

Kin khao ma 1 chuamong

Wrong duration marker.
✗

Kin khao formal

✓

Boriphok ahan

Wrong vocabulary for formal context.
✗

Kin jai

✓

Kin jai (correct usage)

Contextual error.
✗

Kin khao formal

✓

Than ahan

Wrong register.

Structures de phrases

___ กิน ___

___ ไม่กิน ___

กิน ___ ไหม?

___ กำลังกิน ___

Real World Usage

Street food stall constant

Kin arai?

Texting friends very common

Kin khao kan!

Family dinner common

Kin khao laew

Office lunch common

Than khao

Food delivery app very common

Kin ahan

Travel common

Kin ahan thai

💡

The 'Polite' Rule

Always add 'ka' or 'krub' at the end of your sentence to sound polite.
⚠️

No Conjugation

Never add -ing, -ed, or -s to Thai verbs.
💬

Drinking is 'Eating'

In Thai, we 'eat' water and coffee too!

Smart Tips

Always add 'khrap' or 'kha' after 'kin'.

Kin khao → Kin khao khrap

Use 'than' instead of 'kin'.

Kin khao mai khrap? → Than khao mai khrap?

Say 'im laew' (full already).

Mai kin laew → Im laew, khob khun

Say 'aroi' (delicious).

Kin khao → Kin khao, aroi mak!

Prononciation

kín

Tone

Kin has a high tone.

Question

Kin khao mai? ↗

Rising intonation for questions.

Mémorise-le

Moyen mnémotechnique

Think of a 'Kin' (king) eating a giant feast.

Association visuelle

Imagine a king sitting at a table with a bowl of rice and a glass of water, saying 'Kin!'

Rhyme

When you want to eat or drink, just say the word 'kin'!

Story

A king was hungry. He sat down. He said 'Kin!' to his rice. He said 'Kin!' to his water.

Word Web

ข้าวน้ำอร่อยหิวร้านอาหารกินข้าว

Défi

For the next 5 minutes, point at everything you eat or drink and say 'Kin [item]'.

Notes culturelles

Eating is a social activity. Asking 'kin khao reu yang' (have you eaten yet?) is a common greeting.

Kin is a Proto-Tai word.

Amorces de conversation

“

กินข้าวหรือยัง?

“

ชอบกินอาหารอะไร?

“

วันนี้กินอะไรมา?

“

กินกาแฟไหม?

Sujets d'écriture

Write about what you ate today.
Describe your favorite meal.
Compare eating at home vs restaurant.
Discuss the importance of food in your culture.

Erreurs courantes

Incorrect

Correct

Incorrect

Correct

Incorrect

Correct

Incorrect

Correct

Test Yourself

Fill in the blank with the correct verb.

Chan ___ khao.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: kin
Thai verbs do not change form.
Which sentence is polite? Choix multiple

Choose the correct polite sentence:

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Chan kin khao ka.
Adding 'ka' makes the sentence polite.
Fix the mistake. Error Correction

Find and fix the mistake:

I eat water = Chan kined nam.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Chan kin nam.
Do not conjugate verbs in Thai.

Score: /3

Exercices pratiques

8 exercises
Fill in the blank.

ฉัน ___ ข้าว

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: กิน
Kin is the verb for eat.
Choose the correct sentence. Choix multiple

Which is correct?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: ฉันกินข้าว
Subject + Verb + Object.
Fix the sentence. Error Correction

Find and fix the mistake:

ฉันกินน้ำไหม (to a friend)

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: กินน้ำไหม
Question form.
Reorder the words. Sentence Reorder

ข้าว / ฉัน / กิน

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: ฉันกินข้าว
Standard order.
Translate to Thai. Traduction

I eat rice.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: ฉันกินข้าว
Correct verb.
Choose the formal version. Choix multiple

Which is formal?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: ทาน
Than is formal.
Fill in the blank.

เขา ___ น้ำ

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: กิน
Kin is for drinks too.
Build a sentence. Sentence Building

Negative of 'I eat rice'.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: ฉันไม่กินข้าว
Mai before verb.

Score: /8

Practice Bank

1 exercises
Translate to Thai Traduire

I eat breakfast.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Chan kin ar-han chao.

Score: /1

FAQ (8)

Yes, for food and drinks.

No, it's neutral.

In formal settings.

No, Thai verbs don't conjugate.

Add 'mai' at the end.

Use 'mai kin'.

Yes, in casual writing.

Yes, like 'than'.

Scaffolded Practice

1

1

2

2

3

3

4

4

Mastery Progress

Needs Practice

Improving

Strong

Mastered

In Other Languages

Spanish high

Comer

Spanish has separate verbs for drinking.

French high

Manger

French has separate verbs for drinking.

German high

Essen

German has separate verbs for drinking.

Japanese high

Taberu

Japanese has separate verbs for drinking.

Arabic high

Akala

Arabic has separate verbs for drinking.

Chinese high

Chi

Chinese uses different verbs for drinking.

Learning Path

Prerequisites

Next
Comment dire 'boire' (`duem`) en thaï

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