Using the word น่า naa3 in Thai before a word is similar to adding ‘–worthy’ to the end of a word in English. This, in most but not all cases, adds a positive implication that the item of interest is worth doing or worth having that feeling for it. It should only be added to verbs and adjectives.

 

The word น่า, means ‘should’ or ‘worthy of’.

 

น่ากลัว       naa3 glua2           scary

น่ากิน        naa3 gin1             worth eating

น่าอ่าน       naa3 aan2            worth reading

ไม่น่าอ่าน   mai3 naa3 aan2 not worth reading

ไม่น่าเชื่อ    mai3 naa3 cheu3              not worth believing; not believable; unbelievable!

น่าสงสาร   naa3 song2saan5              pathetic; worth having empathy for

น่ารู้           naa3 ruu4            worth knowing; knowledge worth having

ไม่น่ารู้       mai3 naa3 ruu4 not worth knowing; knowledge not worth having

น่าเกลียด   naa3 glead2        ugly (note that this has a negative – not positive – implication)

ไม่น่าเกลียด                mai3 naa3 glead2             not ugly (but not necessarily pretty!)

น่ากอด      naa3 gawd2        worth hugging; huggable

น่าจะไป     naa3 ja2 bpai1   it’s worth going to/traveling to

น่าขำ         naa3 kum5          it’s funny, it’s hilarious

ไม่น่าขำ     mai3 naa3 kum5               it’s not funny

น่าดู          naa3 duu1           worth seeing (like a TV show, or a travel attraction)

 

There are two Thai words that are similar but can be a little confusing. Directly translated, naa3 rak4 น่ารัก would mean ‘loveable’. But it really means ‘cute’ (like your girlfriend). It should not be confused with naa3 en1duu1 น่าเอ็นดู, which is the kind of ‘cute’ your little dog is.

น่ารัก         naa3 rak4             cute       (for your girlfriend, or a stuffed Pikachu doll)

น่าเอ็นดู     naa3 en1duu1   cute       (for a little dog, or a baby)

 

note: There is another word in Thai, หน้า naa3, which has the exact same pronunciation but different spelling. It has several other meanings and should not be confused with น่า.