Complex Sentance Structure

[mynextgig]

Its been a while since i posted on here, but i have something of a learning block and wanted to know how other members have overcome this.

My Thai is reasonable, i have spent quite a lot of time living in an area of Thailand were i am one of only a handful of english speakers and am at a level where i can hold a decent lengthy conversation, do the shopping, sort bills out, book things over the phone etc

But i still struggle to learn and understand some of the more complex sentence constructions that i hear in Thai. If i hear a phrase that i can re-use it becomes part of my vocabulary, but dont really know why its said as it is.

An example of a complex sentence structure i learned a few years back is :-

เขาพาผมกลับมาส่ง - He gave me a lift back lit. he take me return come send.

I use this phrase now, but have no idea why its correct in Thai and certainly wouldnt contruct the sentence this way if i had to think on the fly.

Im not a linguist, i am simply a Thai language hobbyist, i couldnt explain why i say what i say in native English so maybe thats my problem here..

Thoughts ?

Edited June 24, 2009 by mynextgig

[RickBradford]

I think Thai makes extensive use of directional verbs. So if an action needs a direction, one of the verbs มา ไป ไว้ will be added.

In your example, the parallel with English is clear. Come home (กลับมา) and go home (กลับไป) are not the same in either language.

The ส่ง at the end is to emphasise that action was taken, that you didn't just return by yourself, but were 'sent'.

In general, I think Thai is quite happy to stack verbs one after another to replicate the function taken by prepositions like 'to, from, down' etc in English.

Just my 2 sa-dtang.

[meadish_sweetball]

Yes, learning the correct use of directional verbs, and the quirks of others is crucial to construct sentences. I think the best way to learn complex sentences is to just read as much Thai as you can.

Initially, try to analyze every single sentence into atoms, and gradually you will find yourself becoming more familiar with grammar and stylistic effects.

First identify what areas you are interested in and then find writings in Thai that relate to that subject. If you're into current affairs, Matichon weekly is a great place to start as the quality and precision of the articles is often a lot higher than in tabloid articles (not to say you should not do tabloids, rather that it's best to leave them until later as it can be frustrating to jump straight into all the hyperbole, slang and colloquialisms etc.).

Somebody asked for intermediate reading material a while ago, and a link to Thai Basic Reader was posted.

That's a good place to start for simple but correctly written and fairly brief Thai texts that also tend to give an insight into traditional cultural values, beliefs etc. Each chapter has a glossary and a few control questions/exercises for you to complete at the end of the text.