What do these words mean? These eight (not three) words will trip up most beginners, but never fear I’m here to make them easy for you.

 

The first word is only found after a noun or unit word, and means ‘this’.

นี้ nee4 – this

อันนี้ – this [thing]

รถคันนี้ – this car

เดือนนี้ – this month

คนนี้ – this person

 

The next word is similar to นี้ and is also only found after a noun or unit word, and means ‘that’.

นั้น nan4 – that

อันนั้น – that [thing]

รถคันนั้น – that car

เดือนนั้น – that month

คนนั้น – that person

 

The next two words have little to do with นี้ and นั้น, but they sound very similar so can get confused easily. The first is นี่, which means ‘this’ as a *pronoun*.

นี่ nee3 – this (pronoun)

นี่เรียกว่าอะไร? – What is this called?

นี่นะ คืออะไร? This, what is it?

นี่ไม่ใช่สีแดง – This isn’t red.

 

The next word is นั่น, and it also means ‘that’, but as a *pronoun*.

นั่นเรียกว่าอะไร? – What is that called?

นั่นนะ คืออะไร? That, what is it?

นั่นไม่ใช่สีแดง – That isn’t red.

 

นี้ and นี่ should be used for things that are close or right next to you, while นั้น and นั่น should be for things that are further away. It’s all relative, really.

 

Finally, there are four more words that sound similar to the above but carry an entirely different meaning.

นี่ nee3 – here (ie next to you, or in the same place generally)

นั่น nan3 – there (further than here, ie perhaps across the room, in another room, or another state)

โน่น non3 – far yonder (further than there, a few miles away, or perhaps in another country)

โน้น non4 – far yonder

ผมอยู่ที่นี่ – I am here.

เขาอยู่ที่นั่น – He is there.

มันอยู่โน้นเลย – It’s far away over there.