พี่สาว
pîi-sǎao/pʰiː˥˩.saːw˩˩˦/
The Thai phrase for big sister is พี่สาว (pîi-sǎao).
พี่สาว refers to a female sibling who is older than the speaker. Beyond biological siblings, you can use พี่สาว as a polite or friendly way to address a woman who is slightly older than you.
What does it mean word for word?
The word is composed of พี่ (pîi) meaning older sibling and สาว (sǎao) meaning female/young woman.
How does it change in a sentence?
To say 'my big sister', you add the possessive particle ของ (khǎawng) and the pronoun ฉัน (chǎn) after the noun, resulting in พี่สาวของฉัน. Note that the term พี่ can be used to refer to both older sisters and older brothers.
How do you pronounce it?
pîi-sǎao
Did you know?
- The Thai word พี่ can be used as a first-person pronoun, allowing a big sister to refer to herself as 'big sister' instead of using 'I' when talking to a younger sibling.
- The phrase พี่สาว is cognate with the Ahom word 𑜆𑜣 𑜏𑜰𑜫 (Pi Sau).
- While พี่สาว means 'big sister', if a woman is significantly older, such as the age of a parent, a Thai speaker would switch to ป้า (aunt) regardless of biological relation.
Examples in context
- พี่สาวของฉันใจดีมากphi sao khong chan chai di makMy big sister is very kind.
- คุณมีพี่สาวกี่คนkhun mi phi sao ki khonHow many big sisters do you have?
Example conversation
Witthawat is introducing his family to Pimon.
- วิทวัส Witthawatนี่คือพี่สาวของผมครับni khue phi sao khong phom krapThis is my big sister.
- พิมล Pimonยินดีที่ได้รู้จักค่ะyin di thi dai ru jak khaNice to meet you.
- วิทวัส Witthawatพี่สาวผมทำงานเป็นหมอครับphi sao phom tham ngan pen mo krapMy big sister works as a doctor.
- พิมล Pimonเก่งมากเลยค่ะkeng mak loei khaThat is very impressive.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry พี่สาว, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries พี่สาว, CC BY-SA 4.0.
