ບົດຮຽນພາສາລາວ
Welcome to the Lao language. Built directly from the dictionary — understand the fundamental logic of Lao, assemble your very first conversational introduction, and explore how words are constructed from simple roots.
Verbs Never Change
ບໍ່ມີການຜັນກິລິຍາNo past/present/future forms, no irregular verbs, and no changes for I/you/we/they. Time is indicated simply with a particle like ແລ້ວ (already) or ຈະ (will).
Words Click Together
ຄຳປະສົມງ່າຍໆLao creates rich, poetic concepts by snapping foundational roots together. Once you know basic nouns and verbs, hundreds of advanced words unlock naturally.
Familiar Word Order
ລຳດັບຄຳຄືພາສາອັງກິດStandard sentences follow Subject + Verb + Object (SVO), exactly like English. Adjectives naturally follow the noun they describe.
6 Musical Tones
ສຽງວັນນະຍຸດ ໖ ສຽງLao uses 6 melodic pitch contours (rising, high, falling, mid, low, low-falling). The tone is determined systematically by consonant class and tone mark.
Predictable Script
ອັກສອນລາວ ໒໗ ຕົວ27 consonants and 28 vowel sounds arranged logically. Words are written without spaces; spaces function as commas and periods between thoughts.
The Greeting: Sabaidee (ສະບາຍດີ)
The universal greeting across Laos is ສະບາຍດີ (sabaidee). It is composed of two roots: ສະບາຍ (healthy, comfortable) + ດີ (good). Literally: “May you have good wellness and ease.”
The Lao “Nop” (ນົບ)
Lao people greet by placing their palms together in front of the chest or chin (the Nop) with a slight gentle bow. For peers, chest level is standard; for elders, teachers, and monks, bring the fingertips to nose/eyebrow level.
ສະບາຍດີ, ຂ້ອຍຊື່ ຈອນ (John). ຂ້ອຍມາຈາກ ອາເມລິກາ. ຍິນດີທີ່ໄດ້ຮູ້ຈັກເດີ້!
Sabaidee, khoy seu ຈອນ (John). khoy ma chak a-me-li-ka. yin dee thee dai hu jak deur!
How Lao words are built. Learn foundational roots (like ໃຈ, ນ້ຳ, ຫົວ) and the rules of combination, and words you have never met start to decode themselves.
● Draftedໂຄງສ້າງປະໂຫຍກSentence FormationNo conjugation, no plurals, no gender, no case. A small, finite curriculum — twelve structured lessons to conversational fluency.
◐ In reviewຕົວຢ່າງປະໂຫຍກSample SentencesWords doing their job in real Lao — collocations, full sentences, and lines cited from the classical epics and everyday speech.
Compounds and examples are drawn directly from the lexicon and approved by an editor before they appear. ໖໗໒ decompositions are actively in the queue.