The Word 'normal' In Thai

[LadyinRed]

I come across 2 versions:

Po-ka-tit

and

Ta-ma-da

On which 2 seperate occasions do you use them? Or did I get it all wrong?

[toastwars]

There's nothing "normal" in thailand. I have not come across po ka tit, but i use ta ma da when ordering food/drinks and all that, probably wrong but I think my pigin Thai must sound very endearing (yeah right)

Edited February 21, 2005 by toastwars

[withnail]

ta ma da means ordinarily/regularly/habitually.

ta ma da could also be used as the word standard/regular, two examples I've heard of it recently are when renting a motorbike we have motorbike ta ma da or automatic, ta ma da meaning honda wave i.e. the ones that everyone has. Another example was at school the kids were selling hot dogs ta ma da (horrible processed pork) or ham.

I think po ga tee is more formal and can be taken to mean usually or as usual.

[LadyinRed]

Thanks WN, I would like to know more ways to use po ga tik if possible. Anyone?

[withnail]

according to my book (i'm not taking credit for it)

pok ga tee mai koey ma tang nee

I usually dont come this way

chan nawn sam thoom doy pok ga tee

i usually go to bed at nine

[withnail]

just remembered a use for ta ma da

an ordinary day

wan ta ma da

[LadyinRed]

Big thanks WN!!

[withnail]

np

Incase you're interested got the explanation from a book called thai reference grammar by james higbie and snea thinsan. Hard work reading chapter by chapter but great for occasions like this when you find 2 or more words with similar meanings.

[meadish_sweetball]

ta ma da means ordinarily/regularly/habitually.

ta ma da  could also be used as the word standard/regular, two examples I've heard of it recently are when renting a motorbike we have motorbike ta ma da or automatic, ta ma da meaning honda wave i.e. the ones that everyone has. Another example was at school the kids were selling hot dogs ta ma da (horrible processed pork) or ham.

I think po ga tee is more formal and can be taken to mean usually or as usual.

Spot on except maybe for the distinction with the bikes - it is more about the gear system I think - thammadaa in that case is "semi-automatic". Concerning gear systems for cars it is often used to mean "manual" as opposed to "automatic".

In the cases I can think of, ปกติ pogati and ธรรมดา thammadaa can be used interchangeably, with the difference that ปกติ is more formal and probably more common in written text.

They are both common at the beginning of sentences of the type

(ตาม) ปกติ (แล้ว) ผมไม่ไปอาบอบนวด

(taam) pokati (laeo) phom mai pai aab ob nuat

Usually, I don't go to massage parlours.

(ตาม) ธรรมดาิ เขาสั่งผัดกะพราวหมู

(taam) thammadaa khao sang phat kaphraao muu

Normally, he orders pork fried with holy basil leaves.

เอาแบบใหนครับ

ao baeb nai khrap

What kind would you like?

ขอแบบธรรมดาก็แล้วกัน

khaw baep thammadaa kaw laeo kan

Let's make it the usual kind, please.

[LadyinRed]

Thank u both! I have learnt something new again in Thaivisa.com

[withnail]

thanks for clearing up the gear system thing though would that mean that with cars ta ma da means manual

[RDN]

I often say "Pid poga dee" when something unusual happens - like when someone kinneow orders a round of drinks

[meadish_sweetball]

I often say "Pid poga dee" when something unusual happens - like when someone kinneow orders a round of drinks

Good example RDN - and in that expression I think "phid pokati" is the usual way to express it too, "phid thammadaa" is less frequent, at least in my experience...?

You are unusually talkative today.

วันนี้เห็นคุณช่างพูดผิดปกติ

wan[M] nii[H] hen[R] khun[M] chang[F] phuud[F] phid[L] po[L]ka[L]ti[L].

[PvtDick]

"Khon thammada" would mean an ordinary person, ie., not someone famous or a VIP.

"Khon pokati" would mean a normal person, ie., not a psychotic.

Or so I think, anyway. Meadish?

[Neeranam]

ta ma da means ordinarily/regularly/habitually.

What about "meuan derm"?

I say this when I go to my local restaurant and as for the usual, or what I regularly have.

[yoot]

ปกติ(bpa-ga-dti) or ปรกติ(bprok-ga-dti) used as adverb or adjective(for noun which transformed from verb)

E.g. แต่งตัวตามปกติ dtàeng dtua dtaam bpa-gà-dtì -dress normally(if you mostly like to dress with t-shirt&jean .It's ปกติ for you)

ธรรมดา (tam-má-daa) used as adjective or noun

E.g.แต่งตัวตามธรรมดา dtàeng dtua dtaam tam-má-daa - dress in normal clothes (you don't need to wear tuxedo)

For other examples;

ความเร็วปกติของรถธรรมดาอยู่ที่ 60 ไมล์ต่อชั่วโมง

kwaam rew bpa-gà-dtì kŏng rót tam-má-daa yòo têe hòk sìp mai dtòr chûa mohng

The normal velocity of a normal car is at 60 miles per hour.

โดยปกติแล้ว การตอบปัญหาไม่ใช่เรื่องง่าย doei bpa-gà-dtì láew gaan dtòp bpan-hăa mâi châi rêuang ngâi

Normally.to answer questions isn't easy.

ปัญหาธรรมดา ตอบง่ายกว่าปัญหาที่ซับซ้อน bpan-hăa tam-má-daa dtòp ngâi gwàa bpan-hăa têe sáp són

The normal question is easier to answer than the complex one.

เหมือนเดิม mĕuan derm mean the same as before

Edited February 21, 2005 by yoot

[meadish_sweetball]

Thank you very much Khun Yoot - that was really informative.