Using Sample Sentences To Learn In Context

[ElZorro]

I have started using sample sentences to see the new words I come across in context. The best place I know to find a sample sentence for a given word is the Lexitron dictionary from NECTEC. I have translated the following sentences, but I'm not sure whether I have understood them correctly, so I would appreciate any comment or correction:

โจทก์หาว่าจำเลยขโมยทองรูปพรรณหนัก 50 บาทไปจากร้าน

The prosecutor accused the defendant of stealing 50 baht of gold ornaments from the shop.

(there is a mistake in the original sentence: โจทย์ instead of โจทก์)

กษัตริย์ปกครองประชาชนโดยใช้ระบอบประชาธิปไตย

The monarch governs his people with a democratic system.

เมื่อเดินทางไปต่างประเทศครั้งแรก ฉันรู้สึกตื่นเต้นมาก

When I travelled abroad for the first time I felt very excited.

ฉันว่าเธอขึ้นคานแน่ อายุ 35 แล้วยังไม่แต่งงานเลย

I say she is a spinster for sure; 35 years old and still not married.

คนที่หน้าตาดีมักจะน่าประทับใจเมื่อแรกเห็นมากกว่าคนมีหน้าตาขี้ริ้วขี้เหร่

Good looking people often make a better first impression than people with an ugly face.

เขามักจะไปฟ้องแม่ว่าเพื่อนๆ ที่โรงเรียนชอบแกล้งเขา

He complains often to his mother that his friends at school like to tease him.

รัฐบาลปล่อยให้ข้าราชการฝันค้างเรื่องการให้เงินโบนัส

The government has left the civil servants dreaming on about the salary bonuses.

หญิงที่แต่งงานยังคงถือคติที่ว่าต้องรักและซื่อสัตย์ต่อสามีคนเดียว

Women who get married still believe in the principle that says that they must love and be faithful to their husbands only.

[DavidHouston]

ElZorro,

Excellent work.

In the recent discussion regarding mono- or dual-language dictionaries no one pointed out the obvious - that is, that Lexitron provides the best of both worlds, plus the added bonus of sample sentences. As Mankorn has pointed out in the grammar discussion, syntax is best learned in context of real examples. Here Lexitron adds to our storehouse of knowledge of grammar by explaining to us how the subject words operate within the larger context of language usage.

For example, your sentence "หญิงที่แต่งงานยังคงถือคติที่ว่าต้องรักและซื่อสัตย์ต่อสามีคนเดียว" shows us that the verb "ซื่อสัตย์" is followed by the adverb or preposition "ต่อ" and not other possible words such as "กับ" "ให้".

The only slight modification I would offer for your consideration is in the sentence:

"รัฐบาลปล่อยให้ข้าราชการฝันค้างเรื่องการให้เงินโบนัส".

You use the very "dream on", just as Lexitron indicates in its English translation. The Thai defintion says, "ไม่ได้อย่างที่ปรารถนา แม้ว่าจะมีท่าทีส่อว่าจะได้". This definition seems to put more of an emphasis on the hopelessness of the expectation. Perhaps an alternative rendition might be to use the word "daydream" or "fantasize".

Please provide us learners more of these translations. Thanks.

[ElZorro]

Thanks for your kind comments, David. You mentioned exactly the two words that I was most unsure about: ต่อ and ฝันค้าง. The sense of the former is clear in the context, but I had never seen it used this way. As for the latter, after reading the Thai definition you mention, it seems to be used in that sentence as "disappointed" or "frustrated". Maybe a better translation would then be "The government has let the civil servants down on their expectations about the salary bonuses."

I will post more sample sentences later.

Edited March 9, 2008 by ElZorro

[aanon]

starting with the idea of ค้าง as unresolved or unfinished:

The Government has left unfulfilled Civil Servants' hopes of receiving bonuses.

เขามักจะไปฟ้องแม่...

English-speaking kids might be heard to say 'I'm going to tell my mother on you'. 'tell on' is the gist of ฟ้อง here. now, if only we can put it in a grammatically correct sentence...!

all the best.

Edited March 10, 2008 by aanon