In this article, I will teach you about a very useful Thai word: noi หน่อย (nòi).

หน่อย is a word meaning “a little” and it is a word often used to make a sentence sound nicer, less harsh, and more friendly.

One of the most common uses of หน่อย is in the word นิดหน่อย (nít nòi) meaning “a little bit”. You can use this word anytime you want to say “A little bit”. For example, in questions like “how much food do you want to eat?”, “did you like it”, etc.

Let’s see other examples where this “little” word will make your daily life easier.

In all the following examples, หน่อย is not necessary but without it, the sentences might sound a bit too harsh.

• Can I see?
  ขอดูหน่อย
  kŏr doo nòi
  
  
• Can I try?
  ลองดูหน่อย
  long doo nòi
  
  
• Be (a little more) careful
  ระวังหน่อย
  rá-wang nòi
  
  
• Please help (a little)
  ช่วยหน่อย
  chûay nòi
  
  
• Please hold it (a little)
  ถือหน่อย
  tĕu nòi
  
  
• Can I borrow a little money?
  ขอยืมเงินหน่อย
  kŏr yeum ngern nòi
  
  
• Can you please come earlier?
  ช่วยมาเร็วหน่อยได้ไหม
  chûay maa reo nòi dâai măi
  
  
• Can you speak loudly? (a little)
  ช่วยพูดดังๆหน่อย
  chûay pôot dang dang nòi

As you can see, you just add หน่อย at the end of a command to make it sound nicer.

❗️Don’t confuse หน่อย (nòi) with น้อย. น้อย nói has a high tone compared to the low tone of หน่อย (nòi). น้อย with the high tone also means “little” but it is little in the sense of amounts.

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I hope you now know the meaning of noi. I really recommend you use it in your daily life as it will make you sound a bit more Thai and a bit nicer.