ไง

[ColeBOzbourne]

I'm looking for some clarification on this sentence, mainly related to how the word ไง is used. 

ที่ร้านขายของเล่นไงไม่ไกลหรอกนะ

The boy in the story wants a new toy and needs to go to the toy store. I believe the sentence says the store is not far. However the English version says it is far. It is not uncommon in these stories to find spelling errors or variations between the Thai and English.

 

Regarding the word ไง, I'm not sure if it is the shortened version of 'how', as in how would he get to the store. My Thai friend tried to explain it is a word used when discussing the location of something, or used to create emphasis when discussing the location of something.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

[digbeth]

เป็นอย่างไร how was it

gets pronounced and later spelt as 

เป็นยังไง 

 

ไง is equivalent to ไร 

[tgeezer]

 It looks like an answer from the boy after being asked how he expects to fulfil his wish.

 I agree with you, ไม่ไกล says not far and I feel that หรอก says on the contrary,  and นะ is asking for agreement. ไง says obviously. 
กินแล้วหรือ Have you eaten 

กินแล้วไง Obviously. 
ที่ร้านขายของเล่น(นั่น)ไง   
 

It would be helpful if you had quoted the whole paragraph because the translator แปลได้ไง 

Edit: It has just occurred to me that I am thinking ง่าย when I hear ไง 

Edited August 11, 2020 by tgeezer

[jspill]

It's not 'how' when it's used on it's own like this, it's closer to 'obviously' as tgeezer said.

 

There's no exact equivalent in English but another way of thinking about it is how we use the word 'well' at the start of a phrase (but their 'ngai' goes at the end of a phrase)

 

'Well that's a shop that sells toys'. Meaning obviously he's going there because it's a toy shop, and he wants a toy

 

'Well I don't have the money to buy it myself' - this would have the 'ngai' at the end 

'Well I'm spiderman' - if he bought a spiderman costume and started climbing around, and you asked him why he was doing that, he would add the 'ngai' at the end

 

[ColeBOzbourne]

Thank you for your replies so far. They are helpful. My Thai friend is patient with me and tries to explain, but finally says, "You will understand after you've been here a while." The entire paragraph is below in case it adds some context.

นี่คือเด็กผู้ชายที่อยากได้ของเล่น

จะไปหาที่ไหนดีถึงจะมีของเล่น

ที่ร้านขายของเล่นไงไม่ไกลหรอกนะ

นั่งรถไฟไปกับแม่แย่แล้วฝนตก!

ถึงร้านของเล่นตื่นเต้นได้ของเล่นใหม

ฝนหยุดตกแล้วนะพระอาทิตย์สาดส่องเล่นของเล่นใหม่สุขใจจริงเอย

[tgeezer]

That helps a lot. It is not dialogue but an informal story. 

 

This is about a boy who wants a *toy to play with.  
Where will he go to get a toy? 
To the toy shop of course which is not far away you know. 
In the train with mother, bad news, it is raining. 
He is exited exited when they arrive at the store and he gets his new toy. 
The rain has stopped and the sun is shining, playing with his new toy makes him very happy, bless! 

*All sorts of things could be inferred but the beauty of this story is that it isn't necessary to guess whether the toy is a ball or a Pac-Man.  Even that the sunshine is mentioned doesn't mean that it couldn't be played with indoors. 
The train probably means BTS which has brought everything closer in Bangkok.  
Bless, is a little licence I have taken, in my parlance it shows indulgence. It could be applied to the whole story as privilege granted.  

[ColeBOzbourne]

I won't pretend to understand the parts and dynamics of language the way you guys do, but your replies have helped me. I believe ไง, in this context, is used as a 'particle', much like จัง might be used at the end of a sentence to provide some sort of emphasis. Examples in the replies above of using words like 'well' or 'of course' make sense. My Thai friend said ไง is a type of อุทาน, an exclamation (forceful utterance) or interjection according to the dictionaries. As already stated, it may not mean much on its own or have a direct translation, but it can change the attitude of a sentence. Thanks for your help.

[tgeezer]

Thanks for posting the paragraph can you post the translation as well because ไง will have been translated. I doubt that ไง is seen as คำอุทาน. 

[ColeBOzbourne]

The translation was not very helpful in that regard. I stumbled across a few children's e-books in Thai from a site called 'Brillkids'. Then to investigate some questions I found a separate site in English. The English version is a poem and the Thai version only sticks to the general story line. Here is the translation:

 

Here is a boy. He wants a toy.

Where can he go? He wants to know.

You can get a toy from a shop. It is too far to hop.

He rides a train. It starts to rain.

The boy gets to the shop. He buys a new top.

The rain is done, out comes the sun! He has lots of fun.

 

นี่คือเด็กผู้ชายที่อยากได้ของเล่น

จะไปหาที่ไหนดีถึงจะมีของเล่น

ที่ร้านขายของเล่นไงไม่ไกลหรอกนะ

นั่งรถไฟไปกับแม่แย่แล้วฝนตก!

ถึงร้านของเล่นตื่นเต้นได้ของเล่นใหม

ฝนหยุดตกแล้วนะพระอาทิตย์สาดส่องเล่นของเล่นใหม่สุขใจจริงเอย

[ColeBOzbourne]

For any others who may be interested in a few free children's e-books to help reading skills in Thai, the website is: http://brillkidsthai.com/free-download/childrens-ebooks.php#

 

I only found three books quickly accessible, but didn't sign-up or look around the site too much. I downloaded them, removed the pictures, printed them, and then took them to breakfast with me everyday to study. I enjoyed and got the most out of The Three Little Pigs, learning around 50 new vocabulary words. Colors of the Rainbow was cheesy, but I picked up another 20 new words. The New Toy was short and easy, and I learned three new words. Good practice for those learning to read.

[tgeezer]

Thanks, I see what you mean.