One of the most commonly used every day words of Thai is jing1 จริง, loosely translating into English as ‘true’ or ‘real’.

Before I go further into detail on how to use this word, I’d like to first bring up the really odd spelling. According to the rules of Thai, จริง should be pronounced as ja-ring จะ-ริง. But it’s one of those few unexplainable odd exceptions, so don’t follow those rules for this word. You may also see it spelled as จิง, an intentional misspelling by Thais on web boards and Facebook. This really annoys the old people who think that teenagers and the internet are ruining the Thai language . . . rotflmao! IMHO, WTFIUWT? You get the point.

I’ll now give a few example sentences for using จริง to get you started.

In the first example you will see jing-jing, จริงๆ. When it’s written twice, it translates as ‘really’. So if you say something to a friend, but then they don’t believe you, just say จริงๆ.

ไม่เชื่อเหรอ? จริงๆ!  You don’t believe me?! It’s true!

You can also use จริง as part of a question, asking if something is true or not:

จริงเหรอ? / จริงๆเหรอ?  Really?

จริงป่าว?  Isn’t that right?

Just like in English, you can also use it as a modifier of an adjective,

มันร้อนจริงๆ!  It’s really really hot!

The word can also be found in a few other situations, all revolving around the basic theme of ‘true’ and ‘real’:

ความจริง  truth  (adding ความ in front converts it to a noun)

ความจริงวันนี้ Truth Today (the famous red shirt TV show)

ของจริง  something that is real; authentic, not fake

จริงใจ  is honest, sincere

เค้าเป็นคนจริงใจมาก He is a very sincere person.

จริงจัง  serious

จริงด้วย Hey, you’re right! (say this when someone says something you weren’t first aware of, but quickly agreed with)