A few questions about Thai

[Baron Samedi]

Hi there you Thai speaking wonders ????

I've got a couple of questions for you.

I know a bit of Thai and I'm trying to learn a bit more on my own every day.

I'm essentially trying to acquire more vocabulary just to sort of go by in my everyday life.

Anyway. Here are a few questions that I have:

 

1) To arrive - Is it "maa tueng" or "tueng"?

2) Broken - Is it "sia" or "sia laew"?

3) Does "chai waylaa" means "take your time"? Like "cha cha".

4) How do you say "strange" or "weird"?

5) What does "bpai tiao" mean? Can I say " Khun bpai tiao disco mai?"

6) Can I say something like "Pom chop khon diao le pak porn"? Would that roughly mean something like "I don't mind being on my own and relax"

7) How do you say "always"?

8 ) How do you say "all the time"?

9) What's the difference between "payayaam" and "long" - both mean "to try" apparently so why do they have two words.

10) to look - Is it "mong" or "mong hen"

11) What is the difference between "eek" and "eek khrang"

 

Before you start. Yeah I know I suck big time. Doesn't matter ????

Thanks guys ????

 

[Lorry]

1) arrive = tueng

Tueng laew ! (We/he/it) arrived!

Maa tueng = arrive here, literally: come and arrive

Maa is the action, tueng the result (see 10))

 

2) sia: you state,  that something is broken, that's a state of affairs

sia laew: it was not broken before,  and now its broken.  You are talking about an action, not about a state.  An action resulting in a state, the result is the state of brokenness

Often interchangeable

 

3) yes

 

4) เเปลก plaek (the l is silent in Bangkok colloquial speech)

 

5)- go out and have some fun bpai tiao tek (not disco)

   - travel for fun bpai tiao tale

 

6) no

You cannot put chop next to khon diao, that's an oxymoron

If you want to say it, omit le, make a pause instead

 

7) samue

 

8 ) dtalort waylaa

 

9) payayaam make an effort (sometimes you know very well you won't succeed)

longdu try something out, see whether it works - more colloquial

 

10) mong  = look

Mong hen implies that you see it, mong is just the act of looking

Mong mai hen: i look, the result is i don't see it = i cannot see it

Mong is the action,  hen or mai hen the result

 

11) "more" and "one more time"

 

 

 

[Lorry]

1) arrive = tueng

Tueng laew ! (We/he/it) arrived!

Maa tueng = arrive here, literally: come and arrive

Maa is the action, tueng the result (see 10))

 

2) sia: you state,  that something is broken, that's a state of affairs

sia laew: it was not broken before,  and now its broken.  You are talking about an action, not about a state.  An action resulting in a state, the result is the state of brokenness

Often interchangeable

 

3) yes

 

4) เเปลก plaek (the l is silent in Bangkok colloquial speech)

 

5)- go out and have some fun bpai tiao tek (not disco)

   - travel for fun bpai tiao tale

 

6) no

You cannot put chop next to khon diao, that's an oxymoron

If you want to say it, omit le, make a pause instead

 

7) samue

 

8 ) dtalort waylaa

 

9) payayaam make an effort (sometimes you know very well you won't succeed)

longdu try something out, see whether it works - more colloquial

 

10) mong  = look

Mong hen implies that you see it, mong is just the act of looking

Mong mai hen: i look, the result is i don't see it = i cannot see it

Mong is the action,  hen or mai hen the result

 

11) "more" and "one more time"

 

 

 

[Baron Samedi]

43 minutes ago, Lorry said:

1) arrive = tueng

Tueng laew ! (We/he/it) arrived!

Maa tueng = arrive here, literally: come and arrive

Maa is the action, tueng the result (see 10))

 

2) sia: you state,  that something is broken, that's a state of affairs

sia laew: it was not broken before,  and now its broken.  You are talking about an action, not about a state.  An action resulting in a state, the result is the state of brokenness

Often interchangeable

 

3) yes

 

4) เเปลก plaek (the l is silent in Bangkok colloquial speech)

 

5)- go out and have some fun bpai tiao tek (not disco)

   - travel for fun bpai tiao tale

 

6) no

You cannot put chop next to khon diao, that's an oxymoron

If you want to say it, omit le, make a pause instead

 

7) samue

 

8 ) dtalort waylaa

 

9) payayaam make an effort (sometimes you know very well you won't succeed)

longdu try something out, see whether it works - more colloquial

 

10) mong  = look

Mong hen implies that you see it, mong is just the act of looking

Mong mai hen: i look, the result is i don't see it = i cannot see it

Mong is the action,  hen or mai hen the result

 

11) "more" and "one more time"

 

 

 

Fantastic, Lorry.

I'm grateful. Thanks ????

[JayClay]

9 hours ago, Baron Samedi said:

3) Does "chai waylaa" means "take your time"? Like "cha cha".

Yes. Or it can mean be used to say that something "takes time".

 

Mixing it up a bit with number 2, you can replace "chai" with "sia" and you get "sia waylaa" - wastes time.

[Lorry]

6 hours ago, Baron Samedi said:

Fantastic, Lorry.

I'm grateful. Thanks ????

4) in your translieration its bplaek

[KhaoNiaw]

Quote

6) Can I say something like "Pom chop khon diao le pak porn"? Would that roughly mean something like "I don't mind being on my own and relax"

You could add "yuu" and say "chop yuu khon diao" 

[JayClay]

39 minutes ago, KhaoNiaw said:

You could add "yuu" and say "chop yuu khon diao" 

That's a good one.

 

I often say "chop chai wayla gab dtua eang"

- Like to spend time by(with) myself

 

I'm not sure if it's a 100% correct way to express oneself or not but it seems to be understood.

[Baron Samedi]

10 hours ago, KhaoNiaw said:

You could add "yuu" and say "chop yuu khon diao" 

Exactly. Someone told me that today as well. Thx

[Adumbration]

I helped a good few expats with their Thai over the years.  Too a man they all wanted to improve their skills to expand their dating prospects.

 

Thai does not transliterate very well.

 

I created this example years back to highlight the point with my students:

 

"I want a skinny barber to cut my hair."

 

And transliterated:

 

Pom yak dai chang tut pom pom tut pom pom.

[Adumbration]

11 hours ago, JayClay said:

That's a good one.

 

I often say "chop chai wayla gab dtua eang"

- Like to spend time by(with) myself

 

I'm not sure if it's a 100% correct way to express oneself or not but it seems to be understood.

If they ask if I have wife or GF I always reply:

 

U kon diaow deqar mai mee bpan haa.

 

I always get a laugh.

[Baron Samedi]

2 hours ago, Adumbration said:

U kon diaow deqar mai mee bpan haa.

I stay alone (???) I don't have problem.

 

deqar = ?

 

I almost got it....

Come on, help me noi. ????

[ozimoron]

14 minutes ago, Baron Samedi said:

I stay alone (???) I don't have problem.

 

deqar = ?

 

I almost got it. Come on, help me ! ????

dee gwa?

[Baron Samedi]

20 minutes ago, ozimoron said:

dee gwa?

Oh! Ok..

"I'm staying alone because it's better to not have problems"

Well something around those lines.

Makes sense now. Thx

[Adumbration]

11 hours ago, Baron Samedi said:

I stay alone (???) I don't have problem.

 

deqar = ?

 

I almost got it....

Come on, help me noi. ????

ดีกว่า

[a1falang]

On 8/31/2022 at 12:46 PM, JayClay said:

Yes. Or it can mean be used to say that something "takes time".

 

Mixing it up a bit with number 2, you can replace "chai" with "sia" and you get "sia waylaa" - wastes time.

Interesting. I thought "take your time", as in "no rush", would be something like "Mai tawng reep na / ไม่ต้องรีบนะ". Also, if you wanted to say that something takes time, as in it can't be done quickly, you would say something like "tawng chai wayla / ต้องใช้เวลา".

[JayClay]

26 minutes ago, a1falang said:

 Also, if you wanted to say that something takes time, as in it can't be done quickly, you would say something like "tawng chai wayla / ต้องใช้เวลา".

I would use verb + ใช้เวลา. For example ทำแกงเขียวหวานใช้เวลา

 

26 minutes ago, a1falang said:

Interesting. I thought "take your time", as in "no rush", would be something like "Mai tawng reep na / ไม่ต้องรีบนะ".

Yes. I would think the same.

[JayClay]

On 8/31/2022 at 10:24 PM, Baron Samedi said:

deqar = ?

Better 

[2baht]

On 8/31/2022 at 2:47 AM, Sticky Rice Balls said:

mai kao jai....

Khup Phom.

[a1falang]

On 8/31/2022 at 3:19 AM, Baron Samedi said:

6) Can I say something like "Pom chop khon diao le pak porn"? Would that roughly mean something like "I don't mind being on my own and relax"

"Chop" as you know means "like" and would be fine. If you want to give the sense of "not minding", perhaps you could say:

 

Pom mai kit maak arai taa ja chai way-laa pak-pawn yoo kon diao / ผมไม่คิดมากอะไรถ้าจะใช้เวลาพักผ่อนอยู่คนเดีย

 

"Pom mai kit maak arai" can be loosely translated as "I don't think anything of/I think nothing of" to give a sense of not minding or not being bothered by something. 

 

"Taa ja" means "if (I) will/would/were to".

 

Many Thais might also drop the "spend time" part and just say:

 

Pom mai kit maak arai taa ja pak-pawn yoo kon diao / ผมไม่คิดมากอะไรถ้าจะพักผ่อนอยู่คนเดียว

 

"I don't mind relaxing on my own." It's understood relaxing is usually an activity you spend time doing, so saying "spend time" might be considered redundant. 

 

These are just my impressions as a non-native Thai speaker and I could be wrong.

[2009]

On 8/30/2022 at 10:19 PM, Baron Samedi said:

10) to look - Is it "mong" or "mong hen"

This one has always seemed weird to me.

[Baron Samedi]

1 hour ago, a1falang said:

"Taa ja" means "if (I) will/would/were to".

So if I wanna say "will eat" in thai, I'd have so say "ja gin", right?

 

What word do you use to  talk about something in the past. You know like "I ate", "I have eaten", etc...

 

Thx

[Lorry]

On 9/6/2022 at 4:52 PM, Baron Samedi said:

So if I wanna say "will eat" in thai, I'd have so say "ja gin", right?

 

What word do you use to  talk about something in the past. You know like "I ate", "I have eaten", etc...

 

Thx

Wrong question. 

Thai verbs don't have a system of tenses, like indoeuropean languages have. You don't have to change the verb "eat" to something like "ate" just because it happened in the past.

(You don't have to change it either just because something will happen in the future - so, no, "will eat" is not necessarily ja gin, it's just gin).

 

Of course,  Thais will still express when something happened.  There is a difference between "I am sick" and "I was sick". The easiest way is to tell the time,  usually with an adverb: Today I am sick - Yesterday I was sick.  Wanni mai sabai - Meuwan mai sabai. Note, that only the adverb changed, there  is nothing like the change from "am" to "was". (Pronouns are usually omitted, no need to say "I")

 

[JayClay]

On 9/6/2022 at 3:48 PM, 2009 said:

This one has always seemed weird to me.

Mong hen is see

 

Mong is to look or stare

 

Pom mong ter - I am looking at her.

 

Pom mong mai hen - I cannot see. 

 

[2009]

2 hours ago, JayClay said:

Mong hen is see

 

Mong is to look or stare

 

Pom mong ter - I am looking at her.

 

Pom mong mai hen - I cannot see. 

 

I know.

 

It just seems weird to say:

 

"I'm looking and seeing" (mong hen)

 

and

 

"I'm looking, but not seeing" (mong mai hen)

 

I think these are the literal translations.

[Lorry]

4 hours ago, 2009 said:

I know.

 

It just seems weird to say:

 

"I'm looking and seeing" (mong hen)

 

and

 

"I'm looking, but not seeing" (mong mai hen)

 

I think these are the literal translations.

Some quotes from Google:

I am looking, but I cannot see

When you can’t see things around you clearly, ....

"You looking at me but I'm looking through you. I see the blood in ... "

 

Verb compound action + success: mong + hen

 

Another one you here often is fang mai luleuang "(I/you/he) don't understand (what was said)"  = hear (the sound) but doesn't (succeed and) know

Ha mai jeu "cannot find" = search and don't encounter

 

 

 

[2009]

37 minutes ago, Lorry said:

Some quotes from Google:

I am looking, but I cannot see

When you can’t see things around you clearly, ....

"You looking at me but I'm looking through you. I see the blood in ... "

 

Verb compound action + success: mong + hen

 

Another one you here often is fang mai luleuang "(I/you/he) don't understand (what was said)"  = hear (the sound) but doesn't (succeed and) know

Ha mai jeu "cannot find" = search and don't encounter

 

 

 

Yeah, seems like they are using redundant words, right?

 

Thanks for the other examples.

[Baron Samedi]

14 hours ago, Lorry said:

Thai verbs don't have a system of tenses, like indoeuropean languages have.

I'd say that's inaccurate.

For what I've learned, Thai do have tenses.

 

Pom gin = I eat

Pom ja gin = I will eat

Pom kamlang gin = I'm eating

Pom kamlang ja gin = I'm going to eat

 

Past is a bit trickier. I don't really get it. As far as I know they put leeow at the end of the sentence or they use dai before the verb.

 

Anyway, Thai syntax is some next level prehistoric shenanigan. So bad it's hard for me to comprehend how they can actually understand each other ????

(just kidding)

[Lorry]

2 hours ago, Baron Samedi said:

I'd say that's inaccurate.

For what I've learned, Thai do have tenses.

 

Pom gin = I eat

Pom ja gin = I will eat

Pom kamlang gin = I'm eating

Pom kamlang ja gin = I'm going to eat

 

Past is a bit trickier. I don't really get it. As far as I know they put leeow at the end of the sentence or they use dai before the verb.

 

Anyway, Thai syntax is some next level prehistoric shenanigan. So bad it's hard for me to comprehend how they can actually understand each other ????

(just kidding)

No, Thai doesn't have tenses.

I tried to explain that. 

What you write is Thai, forced into the corset of Latin grammar.

Ja and kamlang are useful to make things clear,  but they are not necessary. 

In English you MUST say "Yesterday i WENT out with friends", otherwise its incorrect.  In Thai this is not necessary. Meuawan pai tiao kap peuan is fine. 

Dai and laew are often interpreted as past tense by English speakers. But they're not, see this example. 

 

BTW try to leave away pronouns as often as possible (it's very often possible). If you coughing and sneezing and say "mai sabai", you don't have to say it's you who is sick.  And if you ask your girlfriend "mai sabai mai?" it is understood you ask about her.

Never use "pom" with your girlfriend, anyway, that's rude (pom expresses distance)

 

[Baron Samedi]

3 hours ago, Lorry said:

No, Thai doesn't have tenses.

I tried to explain that. 

What you write is Thai, forced into the corset of Latin grammar.

Ja and kamlang are useful to make things clear,  but they are not necessary. 

In English you MUST say "Yesterday i WENT out with friends", otherwise its incorrect.  In Thai this is not necessary. Meuawan pai tiao kap peuan is fine. 

Dai and laew are often interpreted as past tense by English speakers. But they're not, see this example. 

 

BTW try to leave away pronouns as often as possible (it's very often possible). If you coughing and sneezing and say "mai sabai", you don't have to say it's you who is sick.  And if you ask your girlfriend "mai sabai mai?" it is understood you ask about her.

Never use "pom" with your girlfriend, anyway, that's rude (pom expresses distance)

 

Oh ok. Got it. Man it's really different from what I'm used to ????

In a way, it's easier the thai way.

It's gonna take a couple of months but I will eventually get use to it.

Thx !