jeabsun

In the spoken language, we sometimes omit the subject of the sentence if we know whom we are talking to. For example, in the situation that I am talking to you, I can ask "wanna eat?" or "wanna go?", and etc. We can omit the word "you" because you and I know that I am asking you. I think it is quite similar to the English language. However, you may hear Thai people omit the subject of the sentence more often especially when there is only you and me who are talking to each other. I can omit "You" for almost all the sentences I speak. For example, in the situation that we are going to eat but we have not made a decision yet. I may ask you like "Where should we go?" but in Thai I can just omit "we" to become like (เราจะ)ไปไหนกันดี which means "where should (we) go?" The words in ( ) can be omitted.

In my opinion, the government or someone who is in charge of doing the translation from Thai name to English tries to translate from Thai alphabet to English alphabet. That's why you see Suwarnabhumi (สุวรรณภูมิ) instead of Suwannapoom which is the correct way to pronounce it. "mi" in Suwannabhumi comes from "มิ" in "ภูมิ". You can see this kind of writing in the first name and Last name of Thai people. We try to translate from Thai alphabet to English alphabet because, in Thai, when you change the spelling of any name even though they are still pronounced exactly the same, the meanings could be different and Thai people care about the meaning of their name. These words are typically based on Sanskrit language.

Correction for some mistakes.

2:00 P.M. Bai Song Mung

3:00 P.M. Bai Sam Mung

4:00 P.M. Bai Sii Mung

and

7:00 A.M. Nung Mung Chow <--- I rarely hear this one. I think we typically call it "Jed Mung Chow".

8:00 A.M. Song Mung Chow

9:00 A.M. Som Mung Chow

For the last two cases, it is like an old fashion (in my opinion) to call it that way. It is not clear if you forget to say "Chow". So, it is clearer to call Pad Mung Chow (or Pad Mung) for 8:00 a.m. and Koaw Mung Chow for 9:00 a.m. In this case, no one gets confused because we typically call 8:00 p.m. as "Song Tum" and 9:00 p.m. as "Sam Tum".

rgs2001uk,

You are right. we (Thais) often shorten the sentence when we speak. For example, I am talking to you and I want to ask you if you want to go (some place that we have been discussed). I am not going to say the complete sentence like "khun yarg pai mai?" (Do you wanna go?) but I could say just "yarg pai mai?" (wanna go?). We do this a lot. When I am talking to you, I can omit the subject "you" so I just start the sentence with a verb. But if we are talking about the third person, we cannot omit his name because it is not obvious that who we are talking about.

I think you may have a misunderstanding about the meanings of "roo" and "roo-jak". Their meanings are not exactly the same. "Roo" means "know". We know about some stories, some news, and etc. For these cases, we use "roo". But "roo-jak" basically refers to a person or a place. For example, I "roo-jak" this person (or this places). For this case, you cannot say just I "roo" this person (or this place). "Roo-jak" may be able to refer to something else but I think we normally use "roo-jak" when we are referring to a person or a place.

ColPyat, I think that "subda" is not more polite than "athit", but subda is the correct and more formal word. I think "Athit" is a short of wan-athit (Sunday). However, Nowadays, "athit" also refers to "week" in the spoken language. But it still cannot be used for a formal writing. Typically, when we refer to Sunday, we will say "wan-athit" for Sunday. "wan" means "day". "Athit" means "Sun". So, if you say just "See you "Athit na", someone may be confused whether you are referring to next week or next Sunday. However, you should know which one from the conversation you have. But if you say "See you "wan-Athit na". This obviously refers to "Next Sunday".

rgs2001uk,

If you say just the word "Ja", it means ok or yes. But when it is at the end of the sentence, it could be meaningless, like putting "ka" or "krab" at the end of the sentence to make it more polite. However, "Ja" is normally used when you speak with your friends, boyfriends, or girlfriends. It is not commonly used for a formal conversation such as speaking to your boss (except that he does not mind).

For your second question, when you say "Chun Ja Pai Wat", it means "I am going to go to the temple". I am planing to go there. It is not necessary to be in the near future (like tomorrow). It could be next week or next month. However, we normally also mention the time at the end of the sentence for the case that we are not going there right now. Actually, there is another word that we put in front of "Ja" (which is kum-lung) if we are going to go there (or doing something) right now. So the complete sentence will be "Chun Kum-Lung-Ja Pai Wat" which means that I am going to the temple right now. However, thai language is flexible. You can also use "kum lung ja" for the cases that you are not doing it right now. In this case you should tell when you are going to go (or do) at the end of the sentence. For example, "Chun Kum Lung Ja Pai Wat" <--- I am going to the temple right now, and "Chun Kum Lung Ja Pai Wat subda na" <--- I am going to the temple next week. The phrase "subda na" means next week. I think in many cases, we just shorten the sentence by reducing "Kum-Lung-Ja" to "Ja". In my opinion, when I use "Kum-Lung-Ja" and mention that when I am going to go there (or to do it), it means that I have made a plan for that.

For the sentence "Chun Pai Wat", I would say that I will say that if I've already been there. It is like a past tense for me. However, it depends on the context. Normally we will say like that when someone asks us like "where did you go last night", for example. So, we reply "Chun Pai Wat ma" which "means I went to the temple" (putting "ma" at the end of the sentence will make it complete). In this case, if you say "Chun Ja Pai Wat", it will sounds funny. It 's similar to the situation that you ask me "Where did you go last night?" and I reply "I am going to the temple"!

To be honest, I do not know even though I am Thai. I actually have no idea about it. But I think I may have the answer for the question about the word "Ja". I am not really know which word you are talking about. At this point, I can think of two different words which can be written as "Ja". This is the difficulty of learning Thai because transliteration cannot represent all Thai words. For this case, Ja could be "จะ", which you mentioned in your post, or "จ๊ะ" which has a bit higher tone. You can distinguish these two words from the context. If it is at the end of the sentence, I think it is more likely to be "จ๊ะ" (higher tone). But if it in the middle of the sentence and it normally comes before the verb of the sentence, it should be "จะ"low tone). For example, "Chun ja pai wat" which means I am going to a temple.

Generally speaking, you put "krap" or "kha" at the end of the sentence to make it more polite. For example, You can say "Khop Khun" which means "thank you" and you can make it more polite by adding "krap" if you are male. So you can say Khop Khun Krap.

However, you might hear some women say "krap" when they talk to a boy or some men say "kha" to a girl. You do not need to know why they say that. In these two cases, they can speak it that way but it is not really correct.

I am Thai but I have no clue about its meaning. However, sometimes, the names of bars or Pubs have no meaning. They just name their bars in such as way that people will recognize it.

I think it means like that you have to help yourself. The other people cannot help you because they also have the same problem as you do.

I would like to try:

1. รับโทรศัพท์มือถือ ฟรี

2. รับบัตรเติมเงิน

3. โปรดนำใบอนุญาติพักอาศัยหรือพาสปอร์ต พร้อมด้วยบัตรประกันสุขภาพ (บัตรพนักงาน)

4. เวลาทำการ: ทุึกวันเสาร์และอาทิตย์ เวลา 11:00 น- 17:00 น

ps: I am not sure about the second statement if you need to buy it or just get it (for free?)

I do not know the suitable word for "residence permit". There should be a specific Thai word for this one. Oh...there is no "17:00 pm". You mean 5:00 pm, I guess.

ํIf you want to pronounce it correctly, you need to pronounce "ร". Actually, the sounds of "r" and "ร" are not exactly the same. But I think "r" is the closest sound to "ร" in Thai language. However, many people especially teenagers pronounce this word without "r" sound. So, in my opinion, it does not really mean that you are an uneducated or lo-so at all. But it would be better if you pronounce it correctly.

I came up with another word which means เฮงซวย or ไม่ได้เรื่อง. It is "ห่วย" or "ห่วยแตก". They are not polite words though. For the example that Red Lotus gave us, we can say "จริงๆแล้ว งานของเค้าห่วยมาก" you can say something is ห่วย which means the same as something is ไม่ได้เรื่อง ห่วยแตก means a little higher in the degree of bad quality.

NaiGreq,

You're right. That is the meaning of sia dia I refer to. However, it can mean differently depending on the context. There are many words in Thai that it can refer to different words in English. For example, "use" and "consume", these two words do not have exactly the same meaning. For example, He "used" his computer to do his report. and We "consume" oil everyday. "Consume" is more suitable in the second sentence. However, if you want to say these two sentences in Thai, there is only one word that you can use which is "chai" (ใช้). Sia dia is the same. It can refer to different english words if the context changes.

Sai dai can also be used in the case that you miss something or opportunity to do something, not just the cases of loss or waste.

Well, I am telling you based on the way I use. The order you mentioned (noun, number, classifier) is correct for almost cases. However, it may be some exceptions. According to the examples you asked. You can say "Coke khuad neung (โค๊กขวดนึง)" which we can also say "Coke neung khuad (โค๊กหนึ่งขวด)". Both sentences mean "a bottle of coke". However, the pronunciations of nueng in both sentences are a bit different (นึง and หนึ่ง) but it's hard for me to write each of them using transliteration. You may ask your Thai friend to read them for you. You may not be able to distinguish them though.

The prior sentence is more common in spoken language, but it is not a formal written language.

You can see that the oder of the second example (Coke khuad neung) is noun+classifier+number. However, it can be used this way when the number is neung (หนึ่ง or นึง) only. You cannot use this order for the other numbers such as 2,3,4, and so on. For example, you can say "Coke song (2) khuad"which means "two bottles of coke", but you cannot say "Coke khuad song".

How about "pity"? I think in some cases, it means pity.

So, should I call it สรรพนาม or ลักษณนาม? I always think that it is called "สรรพนาม". I could be wrong. Oh after I checked it, I now remember it. Pronoun in English is like a group of words to replace noun such as he, she, it, they, her, him, you, and etc. I would say that the examples of pronoun in Thai are เขา เธอ มัน, am I right?

I checked with a dictionary and it seems that classifier is correct word to describe what I was talking about. This may help English native speakers understand more clearly. Voot and meadish sweetbal, thanks for your correction and information. I am sorry for my mistake.

Khun Bob,

Thank you very much. I am Thai and I was born in Thailand. I am trying to improve my English. I can speak English without thinking in Thai. However, I still have some problems with pronunciation and English grammar. I always make some mistakes when I speak or write.

In my previous reply, I used kon (คน) , not gun (กัน). It's hard for me to explain it in English. Unlike English language, there is a special type of word called sap-pa-nam สรรพนาม in Thai language. It is something like a unit of thing. For example, in English, you can say "There are three oranges on the table". If you say it in Thai, you need to use "sap-pa-nam" to refer to the unit of orange. For this example, I can say this sentence in Thai as "มีส้มอยู่ 3 ผล บนโต๊ะ". ผล (pon) is the sap-pa-nam of orange. Different things have different sap-pa-nam. For example, sap-pa-nam for car is kan (คัน). Some different things share the same sap-pa-nam. For example, sap-pa-nam for several types of fruit is pon (ผล).

There are two cars in the garage. <--- มีรถอยู่ 2 คันในโรงรถ

Sap-pa-nam of people is "kon". For example, there are five people in that house. <--- มีคนอยู่ 5 คน ในบ้านหลังนั้น

For these examples, those sap-pa-nam cannot be omitted.

Go back the the sentence in my previous reply, "kon" (คน) in that sentence is the sap-pa-nam of "I" which refers to a person. However, in that sentence, it can be omitted. I wish I could tell you why we can omit it. I am not sure if there is any rule about this.

I would say that if you are talking about the number of things or people and it is the important information of the sentence, you need to add sap-pa-nam after the number just like the unit of that thing. For example, I would like to buy 2 toothbrushes <--- you have to say "ผมอยากซื้อแปรงสีฟัน 2 อัน". If you do not put "อัน" after number "2", it would sound a bit strange. But, of course, we can understand it.

Would you mind if I would like to try it? I'm Thai so I may have some comments or suggestions to improve it and I am understand if you cannot do that.

Thank you Voot for your information.

ps: I saw some typos in my reply, but I could not edit it. However, I think you can guess what I was trying to say.

gor (ก็) means "also". Similar to English language, a sentence starts with the subject of the sentence. That's why you have to say "Phom (I'm) gor (also) sabai dee (fine) khrap", not "Gor phom sabai dee khrap".

In this case, even though "duay" means "also" as well, but it sounds very funny if you use "duay". I am trying to think in which situation you should used "duay" in the sentences. I come up with two common situations that you can use duay. Sometimes, both "duay" and "gor" can be used together in the same sentence. But I don't want to make you confused about it.

(1) If someone say that he is going to do something (or to eat something) and you want to do (or eat) it as well. You could say. "Phom yaarge tum (or kin) dauy (kon) khrap" ผมอยากทำ (หรือกิน) ด้วย (คน) ครับ

(2) If someone say that he is going to go to somewhere and you want to go there as well. You could say, "Phom yaarge pai dauy (kon) khrap" ผมอยากไปด้วย (คน) ครับ

ps: I am not sure if you tried to say that when you said "Gor phom sabai dee (dauy) Khrap", your Thai friends understood it. I agree. We (Thais) can guess what you want to say because it can easily guess according to the conversation. However, the example I wrote is the correct way to say. You can ask your Thai friends (if you would like to verify my explanation) whether you should say "Phom gor sabai dee khrap" or "Gor Phom sabai dee khrap" when you wanna say "I am fine also" in Thai.

Hopefully, I can answer your question.

<br />ไม่ได้เรื่อง = has no substance, not worthwhile<br />

Thank you Gravor for correcting my mistake. I really appreciate it.

To be honest with you, I am not sure either. I think วันวันหนึ่ง and ที่ที่ดี are the correct forms especially for a formal writing. But I saw some authors use วันๆหนึ่ง and ที่ๆดี in novels as well. We studied this since we were young in a primary school and I forgot the rule (if there is such a rule). As far as I remember, either of them is fine. We use "ๆ" is use to shorten the sentence. However, there are some confused to use it. Someone, for example, may wonder if one should วันหนึงๆ as "วันหนึ่งๆ" or "วันหนึ่งวันหนึ่ง". As far as I remember, the later one is the correct way to read it. However, I think the prior one (วันหนึ่งหนึ่ง) becomes an acceptable way to read it now.

Jeabsun is not actually my nickname. I tried to use my nickname but it had already used by the other user. I know that the pronunciation of "Jeab" does not sound correct for my real nick name. My nick name is "เจี๊ยบ", one of the very popular nickname for Thai. However, I saw many thai whose nickname is "เจี๊ยบ" used "jeab". Then, I used it so that Thai people won't ask how to pronounce my nickname. . In your opinion, how should I write it in English? How about "Jeeab"?

ps: Jeabsun came from "Jeab" which is my nickname plus "sun" which is the first syllable of my first name.

Khun Bob,

The place of gor (ก็๗ (if you want to use them) is after Phom... Phom gor sabai dee Khrap. You do not need "duay" at all. Actully I am not sure what "duay" is but I guess you refer to ด้วย.

You will hear มั้ย in spoken language. ไหม is a written language. We do not use มั้ย in writing especially in a formal writing such as report, but we can use it in an informal writing for example when we chat with friends. Teenagers use them a lot in chattig but they do not use it in a report. You may see มั้ย in novels. We rarely use ไหม when we speak. มั้ย comes from ไหม but it is a higher tone. In thai, when you change your tone, it could change the meaning of the word (but it's not always true, because when you change your tone, it may become a meaningless word which we may be able to guess the meaning). For example, มา, หมา, ม้า it may sound the same for foreigners, but for thai, they sound totally different. มา means "come", หมา means "dog", and ม้า means "horse". Sorry, I do not know how to write them in English to show how different there are when you pronounce each of them. Ask your thai friend to pronounce them for you.

I think it depends on what she wants to learn. If she wants to learn a conversation course, there are some conversation courses at AUA but I am not sure if there are some requirements.

If she wants to study there, she has to take a test called "placement test" to evaluate her english level. And if she selects to study some thing like regular course (I think there are 15 levels). The courses mainly focuses on english grammar and many friends of mine told me that they did not have many chances to speak english. It was like just taking a lecture. I never took a regular course though. She may have a chance to say about 3-4 sentences in each time. But if her english level is high enough, she can take a non-regular course such as writing and conversation courses. Oh..there would be more than 30 students in each class (for regular courses) but it also depends on what time she want to study. My friend took an intensive course which is more expensive and she has to study 6 hrs a day (I am not sure about this). In this course, they will teach several skills such as conversation, presentation, writing, and listening. However, this course is designed for people who are going to study aboard. Again, she needs to take a test to evaluate her level for this intensive course as well (it is not the placement test I mentioned earlier). I think there are 6 levels for the intensive course. However, it could have changed so you'd better go check at AUA.

I think it would be more effective to have a private tuitor. She may try for 10 hrs first and see if she likes it. For some schools, she can go to see how they teach before making a decision. I think there are several language institutes which have courses for small group of students (4-6 students in one class). But, of course, it will be more expensive. From my experience, if she has good basic english grammar, she should not take a regular course because they will teach what she's already known. If she want to practice speaking, I would suggest conversation course at AUA (Less expensive than the other places). I think, her problem is not about grammar but she does not have many chances to speak english. Ohyou may wanna go check Andrew Biggs Academy. I think you know him. He is from Australia and has been living her for more than 10 years.