น่า + Verb

Descriptions with น่า

Level 3

These forms with น่า describe qualities: น่ากิน is appetizing, น่าดู is worth watching, and น่ากลัว is frightening.

How It Works

Descriptions With น่า
The forms in this entry describe something as inviting, worth doing, or evoking a reaction. น่ากิน describes appetizing food, น่าดู something worth watching, and น่ากลัว something frightening. Learn the meaning of the complete form; 'worth' is a teaching gloss, not a single English translation for every occurrence of น่า.

1. Descriptive Forms
อาหารจานนี้น่ากินมาก describes the dish as very appetizing. หนังเรื่องนี้น่าดูไหม asks whether the movie is worth watching. น่ารัก can describe someone as cute or lovely, while น่าอยู่ describes a place as pleasant to live in. Unlike the English word 'edible', which concerns whether something can be eaten, น่ากิน presents it as tempting to eat.

2. A Direct Predicate
In the requested descriptive sentence มันน่ารัก, น่ารัก follows มัน directly: 'It is cute'. For this predicate pattern, do not insert เป็น or คือ before น่ารัก. This teaches the particular descriptive construction; it is not a ban on those words in every sentence containing a description.

3. Advice and Probability
The linked น่าจะ form can express a probability or a recommendation. For this entry's exercise requesting น่าจะ advice about seeing a doctor, use คุณน่าจะไปหาหมอ. That is advice in the stated context, not necessarily a prediction. น่า itself also has an 'ought to/might like to' sense, so คุณน่าไปหาหมอ must not be treated as impossible advice in every context.

4. Spelling
น่า and หน้า sound alike, but their spellings and meanings differ. หน้า can mean 'face' or 'front'; use น่า in the descriptive forms taught here.

Examples (5)

  1. อาหารจานนี้น่ากินมาก

    This dish looks very appetizing.

    Word by Word: food dish this worth-eat very

    Here, 'น่ากิน' describes the food as being 'inviting to eat' or 'delicious-looking.'

  2. หนังเรื่องนี้น่าดูไหม

    Is this movie worth watching?

    Word by Word: movie story this worth-watch [question]

    Using 'น่าดู' asks if the movie has the quality of being worth one's time to watch.

  3. เขานิสัยดีและน่ารักมาก

    He has a good personality and is very lovely.

    Word by Word: he personality good and worth-love very

    Here, น่ารัก describes the person as lovely or lovable. The worth-loving gloss illustrates the components rather than supplying a fixed translation in every context.

  4. เมืองนี้น่าอยู่มาก

    This city is very livable.

    Word by Word: city this worth-live very

    'น่าอยู่' describes a place that is pleasant or inviting to live in.

  5. เรื่องนั้นน่าตกใจจริง ๆ

    That story is really shocking.

    Word by Word: story that worth-shock real real

    'น่าตกใจ' describes something that causes the feeling of being shocked.

Common Mistakes

  • Not using the requested น่าจะ form for this recommendation about seeing a doctor.

    คุณน่าไปหาหมอ
    คุณน่าจะไปหาหมอ

    For the requested advice construction, use คุณน่าจะไปหาหมอ with น่าจะ. In this context it is a recommendation, not necessarily a probability claim. คุณน่าไปหาหมอ lacks the requested จะ; น่า also has an ought-to/might-like-to sense, so the comparison does not rule out advice readings with น่า in other contexts.

  • Inserting เป็น in the requested direct descriptive sentence มันน่ารัก.

    มันเป็นน่ารัก
    มันน่ารัก

    For this direct predicate pattern, use มันน่ารัก without เป็น before น่ารัก. มันเป็นน่ารัก does not follow the descriptive construction practiced here. This is not a universal ban on เป็น or คือ in every expression involving a quality.

Words in This Pattern

น่าน่า-