Greetings and introductions

In the dialogue, Mali says ฉันชื่อมะลิค่ะ — "My name is Mali." — and asks คุณชื่ออะไรคะ — "What is your name?". Asking someone's name and giving your own name form a simple first-meeting exchange. For "I", a female speaker uses ฉัน, while a male speaker uses ผม.

Narin then says ยินดีที่ได้รู้จักครับ — "Nice to meet you.". ยินดีที่ได้รู้จัก is a fixed expression you can use when meeting someone for the first time. The expression itself stays the same; only the polite particle changes with the speaker.

In the dialogue, Mali says สวัสดีค่ะ — "Hello." — while Narin says สวัสดีครับ — "Hello.". Thai often marks politeness with a particle at the end of an utterance. A female speaker uses ค่ะ in a statement, while a male speaker uses ครับ.

For a female speaker, the polite ending changes with the sentence: ค่ะ is used for a statement, but คะ is used for a question. A male speaker uses ครับ for both statements and questions. Keeping these female forms separate is important because they are not interchangeable.