More Random Questions

[Wizzard of Oz]

Wondering how to use these phrases:

1. "I thought that" [note this is in the past]

Ex1: "I thought that you would think I am/was crazy" [note this is in the past]

Ex2: "I thought that she would like it" [note this is in the past]

2. 'As long as ...' / 'While ...'

Ex1: (Q how long will you use that jacket for)

- "As long as it is cold, I will wear a jacket" / "While it is cold, I will wear the jacket"

Ex2: (Q how long will you keep the window closed)

- "As long as it is cold, I'll keep the window closed" / "While it is cold, I'll keep the window closed"

3. "I would ..."

Ex1 : (suggestion 'we can practice english and thai together')

"I would like that" [note this is in the present or future]

Ex2 : (you just find out that someone has finished work before you arrived)

"I would have liked to help" / "I wanted to help" [note this is in the past]

[meadish_sweetball]

General comment:

Clarify the time period with a time adverbial (at the time; back then; yesterday; in three weeks) at the beginning of your story or sentence, then proceed speaking in the present tense. This is what Thais tend to do. They don't worry about being as exact. It makes for some confusion at times, but mostly it works quite well. As a contrast, remember English does fine without grammatical distinctions that are obligatory in other languages, such as Russian, Finnish and Latin. I know it can feel frustrating to not be able to express yourself as precisely as you are used to, but it is part of the process.

If I were you I would also consider getting David Smyth's and James Higbie / Snea Thinsan's Thai grammars as reference works as you will find this type of questions answered there.

1. dton nán / nai kà-nà nán pŏm kít wâa koon jà néuk wâa pŏm ( bpen kon ) bâa ตอนนั้น / ในขณะนั้น ผมคิดว่าคุณจะนึกว่าผม(เป็นคน)บ้า , or, if the reason for thinking you are crazy is connected to that very moment (something you told, said or did), then it would be "had gone crazy" in English, which can be expressed with bâa bpai láew บ้าไปแล้ว in Thai.

2. ขณะที่อากาศยังหนาว ผมก็จะ สวม/ใส่ เสื้อกันหนาว // ผมจะใส่เสื้อกันหนาว จนถึงอากาศไม่หนาวแล้ว kà-nà têe aa-gàat yang năao pŏm gôr jà sŭam / sài sêua gan năao // pŏm jà sài sêua gan năao jon tĕung aa-gàat mâi năao láew

3. pŏm gôr jà chôp mĕuan gan ผมก็จะชอบเหมือนกัน When 'would' is used to express something hypothetical or not yet occurred, you can often use jà จะ which is also the marker for future tense.

This sentence I would express with pŏm dtâng jai (ja)̀ maa chûay ผมตั้งใจ(จะ)มาช่วย where มา gives a bit of time indication.

But the bottom line is that Thais mostly express these things without making the same exact distinctions as in English. The context determines how to understand the utterance, and if you need to make it extra-specific, you need to either add a time adverbial, or reconstruct the sentence in a different way.

[kriswillems]

2.

As long as = ตราบใดที่

ตราบใดที่อากาศยังหนาว ผมก็จะ สวม/ใส่ เสื้อกันหนาว

While = ขณะที่ (as explained by meadish)

[rgs2001uk]

1, pom khit waa, i thought that.

2. as long as/while, i tend to use weelaa, whenever, dont know if this is strictly correct but i appear to be understood.

3. as the mighty oracle stated in his reply.

meadish, question for you, i am not a translator or interpreter, sometimes i have conversations with thais, i understand them and they seem to understand me, however when friends ask me what we talked about i sometimes find it difficult to explain in english, i hear sounds and i reply with sounds, at times its as if i am like a thai that doesnt speak english as opposed to an english speaker that can speak thai, does this make sense, is it normal?

[Wizzard of Oz]

If I were you I would also consider getting David Smyth's and James Higbie / Snea Thinsan's Thai grammars as reference works as you will find this type of questions answered there.

Yep, picked it up maybe 6 weeks ago. Started going through it, then went to thai school and was too busy. Will get back to it after the course.

3. pŏm gôr jà chôp mĕuan gan ผมก็จะชอบเหมือนกัน When 'would' is used to express something hypothetical or not yet occurred, you can often use jà จะ which is also the marker for future tense.

This sentence I would express with pŏm dtâng jai (ja)̀ maa chûay ผมตั้งใจ(จะ)มาช่วย where มา gives a bit of time indication.

But the bottom line is that Thais mostly express these things without making the same exact distinctions as in English. The context determines how to understand the utterance, and if you need to make it extra-specific, you need to either add a time adverbial, or reconstruct the sentence in a different way.

Regarding "pŏm gôr jà chôp mĕuan gan" - I always used "mĕuan gan" to mean 'the same'/'equivalent', and for 'also', I use 'duay'

Would you mind explaining where I'm wrong (as far as you can tell from what I just said - obv you cant read my mind )

And is it correct to just say "pŏm gôr jà chôp"? Or will it sounds unrefined/not-quite-correct?

Thanks again for the help!

[Wizzard of Oz]

2.

As long as = ตราบใดที่

ตราบใดที่อากาศยังหนาว ผมก็จะ สวม/ใส่ เสื้อกันหนาว

Would you mind putting this in a sentence?

Or is it just this?

dtràap dai têeี่ aa-gàat yang năao pŏm gôr jà sŭam / sài sêua gan năao

[luckyfarang]

1) think that - - - - - - kit(h) waa(f) and neuk(h) waa(f) are pretty interchangeable

and both correct, though neuk waa is more often used

with the past tense in my experience.

I would like input on any differences between the two.

3) I would like to.... - - - - - yaak(l) ja(l)

yaak(l) ja(l) chuai(f) - - - - I'd like to help

dton nan(h) yaak(l) ja(l) chuai(f) - - - - back then I would have liked to help

Edited December 18, 2007 by luckyfarang

[meadish_sweetball]

meadish, question for you, i am not a translator or interpreter, sometimes i have conversations with thais, i understand them and they seem to understand me, however when friends ask me what we talked about i sometimes find it difficult to explain in english, i hear sounds and i reply with sounds, at times its as if i am like a thai that doesnt speak english as opposed to an english speaker that can speak thai, does this make sense, is it normal?

It sounds like you have learned some words in a completely Thai context without reflecting on how you would translate them into English - so when you try you draw a blank because you never used to discuss these things with people back home. Some words are very culture-specific and will require a rather long explanation if the concept is unfamiliar to the person you are explaining it to. Not uncommon at all.

The first time I experienced something like that was after returning home from down under where I had only spoken English for almost a whole year.

If you feel that it is also difficult to explain the concepts in a long-winded way, then perhaps you have not grasped their full meaning yet.

You speak in very general terms so perhaps I have misunderstood something.

[rgs2001uk]

meadish, question for you, i am not a translator or interpreter, sometimes i have conversations with thais, i understand them and they seem to understand me, however when friends ask me what we talked about i sometimes find it difficult to explain in english, i hear sounds and i reply with sounds, at times its as if i am like a thai that doesnt speak english as opposed to an english speaker that can speak thai, does this make sense, is it normal?

It sounds like you have learned some words in a completely Thai context without reflecting on how you would translate them into English - so when you try you draw a blank because you never used to discuss these things with people back home. Some words are very culture-specific and will require a rather long explanation if the concept is unfamiliar to the person you are explaining it to. Not uncommon at all.

The first time I experienced something like that was after returning home from down under where I had only spoken English for almost a whole year.

If you feel that it is also difficult to explain the concepts in a long-winded way, then perhaps you have not grasped their full meaning yet.

You speak in very general terms so perhaps I have misunderstood something.

meadish,

thanks for taking the time to reply, i think you have covered all the bases.

its a combination of things i feel, maybe i didnt understand correctly, maybe wasnt explained correctly, i was talking about emotions and feelings.

the thais seem to have a wider range to express themselves and their feelings with, just my opinion.

as a result when i am going from thai to english i am able to explain, however it just doesnt seem right, its almost as if there is no direct english translation, and i am having to choose the closest meaning in english.

however the thai expression is exactly what i want to say, but i just dont feel happy with how it sounds in english, almost as if it is missing something, or doesnt sound as eloquent.

never mind, another day another learing opportunity.