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How To Express To Look In Thai


RippaSama

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How To Express To Look In Thai

In Thai, when you want to express that

you're looking or watching at something or someone

you can use the Thai verb duu (ดู)

which means to look, to see or to watch.

Using the Thai verb duu (ดู) is really easy,

all you have to do is to place a noun

(something or someone that you're looking at)

right after the Thai verb duu (ดู).

Using duu (ดู) to express "to look" and "to watch"

Note: Be sure to practise writing the Thai script

of each examples below on a piece of paper

to strengthen your understanding and

recognition speed of the Thai script.

Here are some examples that show

you how to use the Thai verb duu:

ขอ ดู รูป หน่อย ได้ ไหม

Kor duu roop noi daai mai

May I see the picture?

Kor is a Thai verb that is used for asking or making

a polite request which sounds something like

"May/can I...". Roop means picture. Noi is

actually Thai particle that is used to soften

a request.

ตอนนี้ ฉัน กำลัง ดู หนัง อยู่

Dton nee chan gam-lang duu nang yuu.

I'm watching movie right now.

Dton nee means now, right now or at this moment.

Gam-lang is a Thai auxiliary verb for indicating

the present participle. Gam-lang is actually very

similar to the English suffix "-ing" which means

"in the act of".

Nang means movie. Yuu is a Thai

adverb for indicating the progressive tense

or perfect tense.

คุณ ดู อะไร อยู่

Koon duu arai yuu?

What are you looking at?

คลิ้ก ที่ นี่ เพื่อ ดู ราย ละเอียด

Khlik tee nee peua duu raay-la-iiat

Click here for details.

Khlik means "click". :-p It can be either a verb or a noun.

Tee means at. Peua means for the purpose of or

simply "for". Raay-la-iiat means detail, price list or brochure.

Raay is actually a Thai noun meaning list of items,

record, story, case or statement. La-iiat is a Thai adjective that

describes something as detailed, exact, fine, meticulous,

careful or thorough. Literally translated, it would mean

"thorough record" which means details. :-)

ดู นั้น ผู้หญิง

Duu nan poo ying

Look at that lady.

Poo ying means female, lady or woman in Thai.

You can view the original article here at

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BimeyCharlie,

Yeah, "mong arai" means "what are you looking at?"

In my previous post I was referring to RippaSama's quote;

ดู นั้น ผู้หญิง

Duu nan poo ying

Look at that lady.

Which I think should be "duu puu ying kon nan"

Can anyone else confirm?

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ดู นั้น ผู้หญิง

Duu nan poo ying

Look at that lady.

Which I think should be "duu puu ying kon nan"

Can anyone else confirm?

The example as stated is not unusual for spoken Thai, although a better translation might be

Look over there! A lady/Ladies!

In most cases there'd be a "si", "ther", or "wa" after "nan" though.

Your example is definitely a closer translation of "Look at that lady.", although it would look more complete with a final particle like "si".

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Ashacat,

you are 100% correct. it is ดู ผู้หญิง คน นั้น duu poo ying kon nun.

To say duu nun poo ying is absolutely incorrect.

Another good one while on the subject of poo ying.

you could say จ้อง ผู้หญิง คน นั้น jong poo ying kon nun (jong) meaning stare.

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It is not incorrect if you see it as two statements "duu nan!" and "puu ying!" in spoken language. It is however not the best translation of "look at that lady".

Wouldn't the นั้น need to be นั่น for it to have that meaning though ?

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Correct, I didn't notice the tone mark. Well spotted.

Sorry guys I dont agree,

for it to be correct I feel it should be

ดู นั้น ผู้หญิงคนนั้น duu nun pooying kon nun

maybe technically you could say ดู นั้น ผู้หญิง doo nun pooying

But nobody would say it (Thais anyway)

Just my opinion!

In The Rai!

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Correct, I didn't notice the tone mark. Well spotted.

Sorry guys I dont agree,

for it to be correct I feel it should be

ดู นั้น ผู้หญิงคนนั้น duu nun pooying kon nun

maybe technically you could say ดู นั้น ผู้หญิง doo nun pooying

But nobody would say it (Thais anyway)

Just my opinion!

In The Rai!

Normally I would think most people would say something like

Doo si. Phoo ying kon nun.

Mong doo. Phoo ying kon nun.

I cannot see why someone would say Doo nun in this context, while technically not wrong to say just the phrase look over there... I just can't see why it would be said; more likely to just say look! Girly!

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ดู นั้น ผู้หญิง

Duu nan poo ying

Look at that lady.

Two people staring at a gender ambivalent person standing a short distance away. Both thinking hard. One whispers to the other after coming to a conclusion: "look there.......a woman"

Edited by Johpa
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ดู นั้น ผู้หญิง

Duu nan poo ying

Look at that lady.

Two people staring at a gender ambivalent person standing a short distance away. Both thinking hard. One whispers to the other after coming to a conclusion: "look there.......a woman"

Yes but that is English..

They wouldnt say it in Thai.

In The Rai!

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I have heard a similar phrase uttered by a Thai born and raised in Bangkok, otherwise I wouldnt have been so persistent about this.

His famous words were "Doo si!" "saao!". And funnily enough, we were standing in a parking lot In the RAI when he uttered them. :o

[/quo

Oh well,

It just doesnt sound correct!

I still think it should be doo si! saao nun (or) saao kon nun

But there is no point in arguing over something that at the end of the day everyone will understand what is being said.

PS Hope you enjoyed yourself In The Rai! It is nice around here!

In The Rai!

Edited by In the Rai!
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Meadish's example sounds perfectly ok to me, not as a textbook example of a well formed sentence, but as a comment with an after thought. As if there was an anticipated "arai?" or "doo arai?" in the middle.

Still think the original example was more likely a balls up though.

Edited by withnail
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ดู นั้น ผู้หญิง

Duu nan poo ying

Look at that lady.

Two people staring at a gender ambivalent person standing a short distance away. Both thinking hard. One whispers to the other after coming to a conclusion: "look there.......a woman"

Yes but that is English..

They wouldnt say it in Thai.

In The Rai!

You are correct, one would have whispered to the other (and I apologize for the lack of Thai fonts apart from what I can copy and paste)

duu,duu, duu.....noon.....phuu ying.

and a far more commonly overheard scenario would be

duu,duu, duu......noon......phuu chaay

I am just trying to come up with a context for the original posters sentence, which as others have noted, does stretch Thai grammar a bit and in and of itself is ungrammatical. And yes, I have heard similarly constructed sentence fragments whispered to me in Thai.

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  • 1 month later...

ดู นั้น ผู้หญิง

Duu nan poo ying

Look at that lady.

Two people staring at a gender ambivalent person standing a short distance away. Both thinking hard. One whispers to the other after coming to a conclusion: "look there.......a woman"

Yes but that is English..

They wouldnt say it in Thai.

In The Rai!

You are correct, one would have whispered to the other (and I apologize for the lack of Thai fonts apart from what I can copy and paste)

duu,duu, duu.....noon.....phuu ying.

and a far more commonly overheard scenario would be

duu,duu, duu......noon......phuu chaay

I am just trying to come up with a context for the original posters sentence, which as others have noted, does stretch Thai grammar a bit and in and of itself is ungrammatical. And yes, I have heard similarly constructed sentence fragments whispered to me in Thai.

As you say it as 3 words and not as a sentence, than it could be used. I was merely saying that it can not be used a sentence. As the OP has it on a website as a sentence. I am saying it is not a correct sentence.

If you said doo doo doo ....... noon ...... Pooying than OK, but it is not something that should be taught to newbies on a website thats all.IMO

In The Rai!

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