There are few ways to express it seems, it looks, seems like, it looks like in Thai. In this post, we will learn all of the words (ดูน่า (doo nâa), ดูเหมือน (doo mĕuan), น่า (nâa)) and the variations. Let’s get started!

Looks, seems

ดู (doo)

ดู (doo) means to look, or to watch. If you simply put the word ดู to any adjective you will have the meaning of seems, looks. Let’s take a look at some examples.

Examples:

• Looks delicious
  ดูอร่อย
  doo à-ròi
  
  
• Looks good
  ดูดี
  doo dee
  
  
• Looks fun
  ดูสนุก
  doo sà-nùk
  
  
• Seems comfortable
  ดูสบาย
  doo sà-baai
  
  
• Seems big
  ดูใหญ่
  doo yài
  
  
• Seems painful
  ดูเจ็บ
  doo jèp

น่า

You might have seen ดูน่า…(doo nâa…) which also means looks or seems. It is not totally interchangeable with ดู. To understand this we need to understand the word น่า (nâa).

น่า (nâa) has 2 meanings. The first meaning is ‘probably‘ which I have explained in the linked article.

We will focus on the second meaning which is a prefix added to a verb or adjective, meaning “worthy of…. -ing” or “….-able”. Note that there’s no English direct equivalent.

Formula = น่า + (adjective or verb). i.e น่าไป (ไป means to go, น่าไป = worthy of going).

Examples:

• ประเทศไทย น่าอยู่ (อยู่ means to live. Thailand is worthy of living aka it’s a good place to live in)
  bprà-tâyt tai · nâa yòo
  
  
• ปารีส น่าไป (ไป means to go. Paris is worthy of going aka it’s a good place to go)
  bpaa-rêet · nâa bpai
  
  
• คนไทย น่ารัก (รัก means love. Thai people are worthy of loving aka they are lovely)
  kon tai · nâa rák
  
  
• ขนมไทย น่ากิน (กิน means to eat. Thai dessert is worthy of eating aka they are delicious)
  kà-nŏm tai · nâa gin
  
  
• คอมตัวนี้ น่าใช้ (ใช้ means to use. This computer is worthy of using)
  kom-dtua-née · nâa chái
  
  
• กีต้าตัวนี้ น่าเล่น (เล่น means to play. This guitar is worthy of playing aka it looks so nice that you want to play it)
  gee-dtâa-dtua-née · nâa lâyn
  
  
• เรื่องนี้ น่าคิด (คิด means to think. This matter is worth thinking)
  rêuang-née · nâa kít
  
  
• หนังน่าตื่นเต้น (ตื่นเต้น means to be excited. The movie is worthy of excitement aka exciting)
  năng-nâa-dtèun-dtâyn
  
  
• ภาษาไทยน่าสนใจ (สนใจ means to be interested. Thai language is worthy of interest aka interesting)
  paa-săa-tai-nâat-ná-jai
  
  
• ฟุตบอล น่าสนุก (สนุก means fun. Football is worthy of fun aka it seems fun)
  fút bon · nâa sà-nùk
  
  
• อาหารไทยน่าอร่อย (อร่อย means delicious. Thai food looks delicious)
  aa-hăan tai nâa à-ròi
  

น่า can also create a negative meaning.

Examples:

• น่าตี (ตี is to hit. You behave so badly you are worthy of getting hit, you make me want to hit you!)
  nâa dtee
  
  
• น่าร้องไห้ (ร้องไห้ is to cry. This thing that happened is worthy of crying, makes me really want to cry.)
  nâa róng hâi
  
  
• น่าเกลียด (เกลียด is to hate. This thing is worthy of hate meaning it’s ugly.)
  nâa glìat
  
  
• น่าโกรธ (โกรธ means to be angry. What you did is worthy of being angry)
  nâa gròht
  
  
• น่าตลก (ตลก means joke. What you said is worthy of jokes therefore it’s funny)
  nâa dtà-lòk
  
  
• น่าหัวเราะ (หัวเราะ means to laugh. What you said is laughable)
  nâa hŭa rór
  
  
• น่าเสียใจ (เสียใจ is to be sad. This event that happened is worthy of being sad meaning it’s unfortunate)
  nâa sĭa jai

I wrote an article on ใจ words. Please take a look if you want to know more.

ดู can be placed in front of น่า but it is not always needed because, for example, ‘looks like it’s worthy of fun’ and ‘seems fun’ has the same meaning. Therefore… ดูสนุก means the same as ดูน่าสนุก and น่าอยู่ means the same thing as ดูน่าอยู่

Looks like, seems like

ดูเหมือน doo mĕuan

เหมือน (mĕuan) means same, like or as. Therefore ดูเหมือน means seems like, looks like, and looks as though. Let’s take a look at some examples together.

• Seems like it will rain today
  ดูเหมือนวันนี้ฝนจะตก
  doo mĕuan wan née fŏn jà dtòk
  
  
• Seems like you are busy
  ดูเหมือนยุ่งๆนะ
  doo mĕuan yûng yûng  ná
  
  
• You look just like your dad
  เธอดูเมือนพ่อเธอเลย
  ter doo meuan pôr ter loie
  
  
• He looks like a teacher here
  เขาดูเหมือนเป็นครูที่นี่
  kăo doo mĕuan bpen kroo têe nêe

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Now that you have learned the word ‘it seems, it looks like’, etc you can now say something looks fun, looks delicious, etc in Thai.