ซึ่ง

[bobthedog]

Hi there,

Can someone please explain how the word ซึ่ง is used. It translates into that, which, who, whose etc.

Thankyou.

[ThaiAdventure]

This translator ahs many examples

[bobthedog]

This translator ahs many examples

Hi,

Was hoping for some kind of grammar explanation.

[DavidHouston]

I am quoting from "A Reference Grammar of Thai", Shoichi Iwasaki and Preeya Ingkaphirom, Cambridge University Press, 2005, page 246:

"Of the three subordinate clause markers [ที่, ซึ่ง, and อัน] อัน is used solely in literary style.

* * * *

"It has been observed that while ที่ appears in a variety of styles of discourse, ซึ่ง appears in more formal speech and writing. the distributional difference is a result of the functions of the two markers. The primary function of ที่ is to identify the head noun, or to specify a referent by separating it from other similar referents. The head noun tends to be a concrete noun. This is similar to the function of the 'restrictive relative clause' in English.

[examples]

"ที่ also appears frequently in a simple adjectival modification.

[examples]

"In contrast to the discriminating function of ที่, the primary function of ซึ่ง is to 'add information' to a concept that has just been introduced. The newly introduced concept could be a concrete concept, but more often than not it is an abstract concept or a whole idea that has been recently brought into discourse.

[examples]"

Does this help answer your question? If you are interested in these sorts of questions, then Iwasaki and Ingkaphirom is a must for your library. It is now available in paperback from from Amazon in a much reduced price from the hardback.

[321niti123]

It is often used as a connector, for example B is the cause of Event A, the sentence would go as:

Event A happened ซึ่ง (which) caused by B

it is also you used in other ways, but i dont know how to explain them in words....hopefully a more professional teacher comes help you, G'luck

[mangkorn]

One essential informal usage is: ซึ่งกันและกัน

[farangnahrak]

ซึ่ง can be translated as 'therefore', and its interchangeable with the slightly more common word จึง which has the same meaning.

ซึ่ง can also be found in a lot of compound words, in which has nothing to do with 'therefore'.

[Peppy]

ซึ่ง can be translated as 'therefore', and its interchangeable with the slightly more common word จึง which has the same meaning.

Could you give us an example? I'm quite certain this doesn't hold true in all cases...

[farangnahrak]

ซึ่ง can be translated as 'therefore', and its interchangeable with the slightly more common word จึง which has the same meaning.

Could you give us an example? I'm quite certain this doesn't hold true in all cases...

Hmmmm I can find you examples, but I really couldn't tell you the finer differences between จึง and ซึ่ง. I honestly don't know if there are some cases it wouldn't work, and I'd be bs'ing if I said I did . . .

[meadish_sweetball]

ซึ่ง can be translated as 'therefore', and its interchangeable with the slightly more common word จึง which has the same meaning.

I think you may be mixing this up with the word pair จึง and ถึง.

[Peppy]

After some contemplation, research, and discussion (with DavidHouston, and Mrs. Peppy) on this issue, I have come to the following conclusions:

1. ซึ่ง is a relative pronoun, like who, which, that, as explained in the OP. It is similar in some ways to ที่, as explained in "A Reference Grammar of Thai", Shoichi Iwasaki and Preeya Ingkaphirom, cited by DavidHouston above: "The primary function of ที่ is to identify the head noun, or to specify a referent by separating it from other similar referents. The head noun tends to be a concrete noun. This is similar to the function of the 'restrictive relative clause' in English."

"In contrast to the discriminating function of ที่, the primary function of ซึ่ง is to 'add information' to a concept that has just been introduced. The newly introduced concept could be a concrete concept, but more often than not it is an abstract concept or a whole idea that has been recently brought into discourse."

This 'restrictive relative clause' stuff seems to be what's important here. What is a 'restrictive relative clause'? I found this page: http://grammartips.homestead.com/nonrestrictivecommas.html which is where I got the following examples (The translations are my own). Basically it's a relative clause that sets the thing being defined apart from all other things. For example:

My brother that lives in Arizona is named Pat. พี่ชายผมที่อยู่เอริโซนา ชื่อแพท (The phrase "that lives in Arizona" sets Pat apart, or 'restricts' him from any other brothers I may have. With this phrase, there is only one brother I could be referring to.)

This is in contrast to a 'non-restrictive relative clause', which gives information that is parenthetical, and doesn't necessarily set the thing being defined apart from all other things. Non-restrictive relative clauses are usually set off by commas in English, for example:

Professor James, who is an expert in Victorian poetry, will be giving a lecture tonight. อาจารย์เจมส์ซึ่งเป็นผู้เชียวชาญด้านกวียุควิคโทเรีย จะให้การบรรยายเย็นนี้ (The phrase "who is an expert in Victorian poetry" doesn't set Prof. James apart from anyone else; there may be plenty of experts in Victorian poetry, and this phrase just explains that Prof. James is one of them. It is thus 'non-restrictive'.)

To summarize: Generally speaking, we use "ที่" for restrictive relative clauses, and "ซึ่ง" for non-restrictive relative clauses. (Perhaps there's exceptions to this--I would be grateful if any native Thai speakers could comment on this.)

2. ซึ่ง is in no way interchangeable with จึง. จึง means "therefore" or "so" (that is, something happened or didn't happen as a result of something that happened or didn't happen earlier), and is not related to the meaning of ซึ่ง. The definition of ซึ่ง as meaning "therefore" on thai-language.com is in error. This definition is not included in the RID, nor in my Thai-English dictionaries (New Model Thai-English Dictionary by So Sethaputra and Thai-English Dictionary 3rd Edition by Domnern/Sathienpong). Here's an example of how to use จึง:

ฝนยังตกอยู่ ผมจึงเอาร่มไปด้วย It was still raining, so I brought an umbrella with me.

The thai-language.com definition of ซึ่ง, while giving oodles of examples of its use with relative clauses, gives just a single example in which it is claimed to mean "therefore":

บ้านเรือนเหล่านั้นวายวอดไปเพราะสงครามซึ่งไม่มีใครสามารถเรียกร้องค่าชดเชยได

The translation given is "These homes have been destroyed due to the war; therefore, no one can claim repayment for damages." However, I suggest that this translation, and the definition of ซึ่ง as "therefore", is erroneous: I would use "No one can claim repayment for damages on those homes which have been destroyed due to the war." This required some rearrangement of the order of the clauses, and DavidHouston suggested that a better way to say it would be "These homes have been destroyed due to the war; [those are homes with respect to] which no one can claim repayment for damages."

Sorry for the long post, but I hope some people will find this of interest. Comments and corrections are very much appreciated.

[farangnahrak]

I asked a Thai today about this . . . she said จึง comes before an effect, and ชึ่ง comes before a cause. She also said ชึ่ง and ที่ are often interchangeable. She said sometimes ชึ่ง can be translated as 'because'.

But that doesn't quite seem right to me, given examples of the word usage I've found . . .