Simple Thai Expressions

[Eastender]

Can we start a list of simple Thai expressions, for beginners. With intonation please.

I know this is similar to the Thai sayings post, but I'm hoping for more useful everyday expressions for beginners like myself. (Remember 'expressions' are different to 'sayings').

For example;

Mai pben rai [mai falling] Never mind/it doesn't matter.

Over to you!

[snowleopard]

Can we start a list of simple Thai expressions, for beginners.  With intonation please.

I know this is similar to the Thai sayings post, but I'm hoping for more useful everyday expressions for beginners like myself.  (Remember 'expressions' are different to 'sayings').

For example;

Mai pben rai    [mai falling]   Never mind/it doesn't matter.

Over to you!

Good idea for a thread...

1.ตามสบาย "dtaam sabaai" (dtaam=common tone;sabai=low tone+rising tone)

2.ใจเย็น "jai yen" (jai=common tone;yen=common tone)

"Takin' it easy!"(like the Eagles)

Cheers.

Snowleopard.

[Eastender]

How do you ask someone to relax, as in 'hey, relax'?

[stumonster]

How do you ask someone to relax, as in 'hey, relax'?

snowleopard

2.ใจเย็น "jai yen" rolleyes.gif (jai=common tone;yen=common tone)

[bannork]

Eastender,

I recommend งูๆปลาๆ gnu gnu bla bla, literally, snake snake fish fish, meaning I speak only a little Thai; use it when a Thai asks you if you speak Thai or when a Thai compliments you on your Thai and you want to show modesty, either genuine or false!

Yours, bannork.

[Ajarn]

Eastender,

I recommend งูๆปลาๆ gnu gnu bla bla, literally, snake snake fish fish, meaning I speak only a little Thai; use it when a Thai asks you if you speak Thai or when a Thai compliments you on your Thai and you want to show modesty, either genuine or false!

Yours, bannork.

I'd say that if you can say it correctly, including correct tones and sounding out ngaw ngu and paw plaa correctly, no Thai will believe that you didn't speak Thai well. Saying it incorrectly, and you might hear 'farang waa aray'...or, 'farang baa'...

[bannork]

Ajarn,

the tones are not difficult, midtone both words, but I admit the ง งู sound is one of the hardest for farangs to pronounce. Apologies for writing it gn not ng, but thinking about it there's no equivalent sound anywhere near it in English.

bannork.

[Ajarn]

Ajarn,

the tones are not difficult, midtone both words, but I admit the ง งู sound is one of the hardest for farangs to pronounce. Apologies for writing it gn not ng, but thinking about it there's no equivalent sound anywhere near it in English.

bannork.

Yes, I think you're right- at least at the beginning of the word. But at the end, it's pretty common in English...Sing, Bing, etc....

My Thai teacher suggested once that German-speakers have an easier time with ngaw ngu sounds...

And though a mid-tone is not difficult per se, how many newbie farangs do you hear using it correctly? It seems quite rare to me, and my ears hear farangs using falling tones far more often than the Thai language suggests

Anyway, it ain't my language either. It is a daily challenge for me in which I don't always meet the challenge as well as I hope for!

Thanks for your comments, bannork. This section of the forum is among the most useful and informative, in my opinion. And civil, too

[snowleopard]

Can we start a list of simple Thai expressions, for beginners. With intonation please.

Here're a couple of more with their tones attached...

1.พูดเล่น "poot len" joke (poot=sinking tone;len=sinking tone)

2.อาบน้ำ "aap nahm" take a shower (aap=low tone;nahm=high tone)

Cheers.

Snowleopard.

[RDN]

ขี้เกียจ: kii-giat [ kii (falling)-giat (low) ]

Means "lazy".

If you don't want to do something, just say "kiigiat"!

[the scouser]

เอาไม่เอา ao mai ao - do you want it or not?

Scouse.

[Eastender]

ao mai ao - I like expressions like this as it's using simple words I already know.

Could one use this with any verb, eg

gin mai gin (or gin kao mai gin kao)?

duu TV mai duu TV?

If so what other expressions do you know in which one can use a simple structure, and fit in other words to adjust meanig?

[the scouser]

ao mai ao - I like expressions like this as it's using simple words I already know.

Could one use this with any verb, eg

gin mai gin (or gin kao mai gin kao)?

duu TV mai duu TV?

If so what other expressions do you know in which one can use a simple structure, and fit in other words to adjust meanig?

Yes, the structure can be used with any verb to mean "verb+or not". I interpret it as conveying a sense of exasperation as one may say to a child, "Do you want it or not?" Also the subject should be clear from the context so I wouldn't include nouns. To use your examples, I would just say:

doo mai doo? - Are you watching it or not?

gin mai gin? - Are you eating it or not?

Two other verbs which I find useful, although not really expressions, are:

เอา +noun มา ao....ma - to bring

เอา +noun ไป ao....bpai - to take (away)

As an imperative you can miss out the noun and just say, "ao ma" - bring it here or "ao bpai" - take it away.

Cheers,

Scouse.

[bannork]

ไปไหนมา bpai nai ma?, rising tone on the nai, otherwise midtone, meaning,' where have you been?' A very common expression used in greeting someone. Your best bet Eastender is to buy one of the various books on Thai for sale and start to learn to read Thai, it's not hard if you've got free time and energy and have a patient Thai friend to help; you could teach him or her English in exchange. Thai is phonetic, with a few exceptions, so once you know the rules you should be able to pronounce clearly, in theory!

If you learn Thai using English letters there's various obstacles: firstly, many sounds in Thai have no equivalent in English so various writers use different combinations of English letters in a futile attempt to replicate the Thai sound, utter confusion! People even use a 'v' but there is no v in Thai!

Secondly the tones, intrinsic to every Thai word, you are going to have to have 2 arrows, one going up and one down, 3 horizontal lines, one in the air, one 1 centimetre above the line on the page and one line on the line of the page to represent the 5 tones, the words will start to look like geometric expressions.

Thirdly, unable to read the script, you can't learn any new Thai words on your own, a ###### of a handicap.

Sorry to go on, but I thoroughly recommend learning the script for speaking purposes alone, apart from the other benefits.

Yours,

bannork.

[snowleopard]

1.ตากแดด "dtaak daet"=To let dry in the sun (dtak=low tone/daet=low tone)

2.ผิดนัด "pit nut"=To miss an appointment (pit=low tone/nut=high tone)

3.เมื่อเร็วๆนี้ "meu-a reow reow nee"=Just now;recently (meu-a=sinking tone/reow=common tone/nee=high tone)

Snowleopard

[Eastender]

bannork,

I appreciate what you're saying. During some of my time in Thailand I was swapping English for Thai lessons, and got a lot out of it. Though once I could get most things I needed, and make very simple pleasant conversation I got a bit lazy.

I also got used to using B. P. Becker's format of reading/writing Thai in English script. But I keep hearing from people, and from her books too, that learning Thai script is the only way to progress and I guess I should start properly. Sadly I'm stuck in the UK for a while now but I have some books.

Anyway, keep your phrases coming.

More examples like scouser's are useful where one can learn a structure and then swap words to adjust. What I'm hoping for here are more everyday natural expressions that aren't necessarily found in my text books when learning Thai.

Thanks all.

[SAY WHAT !]

Rod Pon ( รอดพ้น ) = succeed in escaping, make good one ’s escape

[Eastender]

OK, so this idea wasn't so popular! I'll add some myself;

Rep reep (hurry up) mid tone

Reep reep noi - same - to be more polite

Buat ching chong (going/desperate for a pee) mid tone - I think

[Neeranam]

Buat ching chong (going/desperate for a pee) mid tone - I think

I don't hear that but usually esp kids, "bpuat chee", not to be confused with "buat chee", meaning to ordain as a nun, I think

Bpuat kee, or bpuat thai kee - dying for a crap

[meadish_sweetball]

OK, so this idea wasn't so popular! I'll add some myself;

Rep reep (hurry up) mid tone

Reep reep noi - same - to be more polite

Buat ching chong (going/desperate for a pee) mid tone - I think

'Ching chong' for pee is a word Thais seem to like to teach farang, but why, heaven knows...

It works, but it is more natural and neutral to say 'bpuat chee'.

[SAY WHAT !]

OK, so this idea wasn't so popular!  I'll add some myself;

Rep reep (hurry up) mid tone

Reep reep noi - same - to be more polite

Buat ching chong (going/desperate for a pee)  mid tone - I think

Eastender

This idea is very good I think. May be someone wants to learn these

simple thai expressions sometime,so he or she can come in here and

take a look.

Always use "krub" (for men) and "ka" (for women) when you

want to be polite. Add these words to the end of all the examples below.

ขอบคุณ "khorb khun" means Thank you

ไม่เป็นไร "mai ben rai" means it's ok For example when someone

tries to give you something but you don't want it or someone says

thanks to you, you say mai ben rai.

BYE

[Richard W]

Thai is phonetic, with a few exceptions, so once you know the rules you should be able to pronounce clearly, in theory!

While I agree that one should learn to pronounce clearly spelt words, I think it can be helpful to show the pronunciation. Apart from anything else, it helps learners check that they can read. Also, there are words like ตำรวด [M]tam[L]ruat where the tone rule is complicated, not to mention riddled with exceptions.

If you learn Thai using English letters there's various obstacles: firstly, many sounds in Thai have no equivalent in English so various writers use different combinations of  English letters in a futile attempt to replicate the Thai sound, utter confusion

The trick here is for us to use a consistent set, ideally based on the International Phonetic Alphabet. Sabaijai made the very good suggestion of starting from the official transliteration into English (Royal Thai General System of Transcription). This is worth understanding anyway, as it will frequently be encountered, though often with unofficial enhancements. For consonants, the only problem is that initial จ is transliterated <ch>, which is ambiguous - he suggested we should use <j>. Given that usage, we can tolerate <g> for ก as well as the official <k>.

For vowels, he recommended fixing the defects in the official scheme:

(1) It doesn't show length - partial solution is to double the single written vowels to show length, and also in the diphthongs in -i and -o (as written).

(2) It doesn't distinguish the vowels of มอง 'look' and โมง 'hour'. We agreed that the latter should be <moong>.

We didn't settle on what to do about มอง - the options <morng> and <mawng> were left open. The Nation uses <or> in the names of government forms. I believe we can all view (and most of us type) Latin-1 characters, so we could even go Scandinavian and try <måång>. Plain <maong> can't be used because the official transliteration uses <ao> for words like เข้า <khao> 'enter'.

I haven't addressed all length contrasts - I will addres the others with tone.

Secondly the tones, intrinsic to every Thai word, you are going to have to have  2 arrows, one going up and one down, 3 horizontal lines, one in the air, one 1 centimetre above the line on the page and one line on the line of the page to represent the 5 tones, the words will start to look like geometric expressions.

The solution is simply to use letters, as can be done in the ASCIIfication of the IPA. The preferred method for delimiting tones seemed to be in square brackets at the start of the syllable. (My preference is simply to use the capitals after the syllable, but tough.) Meadish Sweetball has been using accents, but most fonts don't support the caron he would require for a rising tone.

Finally, and this I think was my suggestion, where a digraph could represent a short vowel or a long vowel, we can copy Thai and use an 'S' like the tone marker to indicate the short vowel, thus [RS]khaeng for แข็ง 'hard'.

The biggest disadvantage of showing the pronunciation is that it can easily show up a poster's ignorance!

[RamdomChances]

The biggest disadvantage of showing the pronunciation is that it can easily show up a poster's ignorance!

Thats why I never try to put any in!!

[Baht Simpson]

How would you say " Hello, nice to meet you again." ?

[the scouser]

" Hello, nice to meet you again."

ยินดีที่ได้พบคุณอีกครั้ง - yin dee tee dai pop khun eek krang

ดีใจที่ได้พบคุณอีกครั้ง - dee jai tee dai pop khun eek krang

Scouse.

[BIG SPUDS]

Eastender did you get my email?

[Eastender]

Big Spuds - no I didn't, sorry, maybe I have an old email address on my personal info thing. Should be [email protected] (although sadly I'm in the UK and not BKK).

[RDN]

The trick here is for us to use a consistent set, ideally based on the International Phonetic Alphabet.  Sabaijai made the very good suggestion of starting from the official transliteration into English (Royal Thai General System of Transcription).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Your link says "It is used in highway signs ...". I live in Phuket where there is one road "Sai Yuan" that is also spelt "Sai Yaun" and - even worse - "Sai Yorn". I keep thinking of getting a thick, black felt tip pen and making corrections.

[meadish_sweetball]

Big Spuds - no I didn't, sorry, maybe I have an old email address on my personal info thing.  Should be [email protected] (although sadly I'm in the UK and not BKK).

Unfortunately, misspellings are rather common, and the Thais themselves rarely catch these, since naturally they concentrate on reading the Thai version instead of the inexact English transliteration.

A consistent system is still a good suggestion...

At the moment, I am using something close to the Haas/AUA versions (both based on the International Phonetic Alphabet) but without the proper accents and sometimes without proper indication of vowel length.

I just noticed that the new version of the forum supports using Firefox! Yay and hooray.

And I managed to quote the wrong post too... well well.

[Baht Simpson]

" Hello, nice to meet you again."

ยินดีที่ได้พบคุณอีกครั้ง - yin dee tee dai pop khun eek krang

ดีใจที่ได้พบคุณอีกครั้ง - dee jai tee dai pop khun eek krang

Scouse.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for that Scouser, I'll practice for when I return in November. What is the difference between the two phrases? Is one formal and one informal? Which one would be best to use for a group of people I am likely to meet at the airport?