Say, speak, tell, talk etc

[simon43]

English has several different verbs that can be used to convey 'speaking'.

Thai has words such as พูด, บอก, คุย

What would be the most appropriate Thai verb to use in these examples?

- The teacher tells the children to sit down (บอก?)

- The teacher says 'please sit down' (บอก?)

- The teacher speaks to the children (พูด?)

- The teacher is talking with the children (คุย?)

[geramin]

I'm sure you got all of them correctly. I might be wrong but they all sound right to me

Sent from my SM-G925I

[krey]

- The teacher tells the children to sit down (บอก?)

- The teacher says 'please sit down' (บอก?) - would use พูด here as you are saying the Teacher SAYS not the teacher Tells

- The teacher speaks to the children (พูด?)

- The teacher is talking with the children (คุย?)

คุย is more like chatting its a informal พูด

The teacher is talking with the children - if you are trying to say it is happening right now you need to show the verb is happening right now by using Gamlang and Yuu surrounding the phrase such as

I am talking with mom on the phone gamlang kui torasap gap mee yuu

กำลังคุยโทรศัพท์กับแม่อยู่

Gamlang and yuu are both optional but you need one of them in the sentence

for example

I am Eating can be spoken in 3 different ways

1. ผม/ชั้นกำลังกินข้าวอยู่ [pŏm/chán gam-lang gin kâao yùu]

2. ผม/ชั้นกำลังกินข้าว [pŏm/chán gam-lang gin kâao]

3. ผม/ชั้นกินข้าวอยู่ [pŏm/chán gin kâao yùu]

by the way i grabbed those examples from learnthaiwithmod website, too lazy to type out the Thai script on my laptop:)

Edited May 20, 2016 by krey

[Aforek]

in which case do we say " ว่า " ? is it interchangeable with บอก and พูด ?

I remember somebody one time who asked me " ว่าอะไร ?" because he didn't understand what I said

[Saastrajaa]

in which case do we say " ว่า " ? is it interchangeable with บอก and พูด ?

I remember somebody one time who asked me " ว่าอะไร ?" because he didn't understand what I said

The correspondence is not exact (it never is), but as a general guideline, you can think of ว่า as "say," and พูด as "speak". Remember that ว่า can also be translated as "that," as in เค้าได้พูดว่า... or ผมจะบอกว่า... etc.

[chopin99]

- The teacher tells the children to sit down (บอก?) ครู "บอกให้" เด็กๆนั่งลง

- The teacher says 'please sit down' (บอก?) ครู บอกว่า/พูดว่า นั่งลง (หน่อย for please... not sure)

- The teacher speaks to the children (พูด?) ครู "พูดกับ" เด็กๆ

- The teacher is talking with the children (คุย?) ครูกำลัง "คุยกับ" เด็กๆ

ps i'm Thai

[chopin99]

in which case do we say " ว่า " ? is it interchangeable with บอก and พูด ?

I remember somebody one time who asked me " ว่าอะไร ?" because he didn't understand what I said

The correspondence is not exact (it never is), but as a general guideline, you can think of ว่า as "say," and พูด as "speak". Remember that ว่า can also be translated as "that," as in เค้าได้พูดว่า... or ผมจะบอกว่า... etc.

Well, I dont think u can think of "ว่า" as say...

Usually, "ว่า" is more like a prep..

so, it's often "พูดว่า", "บอกว่า"

and that "ว่าอะไร" (quite a weird one), "ว่าไงนะ", "ว่าอะไรนะ" are some short from of "พูดว่าอะไร" (the main verb "พูด" is omitted)

the "ว่า" as a verb should be... to scold, to blame or in some cases.... maybe to curse

like..... the mother scolded her child, my boss blamed me...., he cursed his friend..

[Saastrajaa]

in which case do we say " ว่า " ? is it interchangeable with บอก and พูด ?

I remember somebody one time who asked me " ว่าอะไร ?" because he didn't understand what I said

The correspondence is not exact (it never is), but as a general guideline, you can think of ว่า as "say," and พูด as "speak". Remember that ว่า can also be translated as "that," as in เค้าได้พูดว่า... or ผมจะบอกว่า... etc.

Well, I dont think u can think of "ว่า" as say...

[chopin99]

in which case do we say " ว่า " ? is it interchangeable with บอก and พูด ?

I remember somebody one time who asked me " ว่าอะไร ?" because he didn't understand what I said

The correspondence is not exact (it never is), but as a general guideline, you can think of ว่า as "say," and พูด as "speak". Remember that ว่า can also be translated as "that," as in เค้าได้พูดว่า... or ผมจะบอกว่า... etc.

Well, I dont think u can think of "ว่า" as say...

personallly, i dont think the first definition in this dictionary is correct...

I dont know if this is a proper dictionary...

for me as a Thai, "ว่า" = "to say" is weird...

(the 2nd and 3rd are perfect)

it's more like a preposition imo.., as i've explain in the previous comment..

anyway, u may ask any Thai to confirm about this..

Edited May 28, 2016 by chopin99

[Aforek]

personallly, i dont think the first definition in this dictionary is correct...

I dont know if this is a proper dictionary...

for me as a Thai, "ว่า" = "to say" is weird...

(the 2nd and 3rd are perfect)

it's more like a preposition imo.., as i've explain in the previous comment..

anyway, u may ask any Thai to confirm about this..

Yes, interresting what other Thai people say about this

I have a big dictionnary, the one you find in every bookshop in Thailand, it's " New se-ed's english-thai ... dictionnary "

and it's written for "ว่า"

to say, to speak, to remark ; to complain, to blame, to scold , to admonish, to sing

adv: say, thus ; conj : that

I can't say what is a proper dictionnary but this one is from Professor Dr.Wit Thiengburanathum

I have already noticed on this same forum that the few Thai people we have here don't always agree with each other about Thai language

are there several Thai languages ( north, east, south, west ) ?

in my language, every body has the same opinion about how to build a sentence and the meaning of words

[p_brownstone]

1) In the first example "the teacher tells the children to sit down", given that the teacher is in a position of authority over the children it would be more correct to use the word "สั่ง" meaning "Orders" rather than just "บอก" which means simply "Tells".

2) The word "ว่า" by itself does not mean "tell" or even "say", in this context it means "that" as in "บอกว่า" - "says that" or "สั่งว่า" - "orders that".

Patrick

[Saastrajaa]

personallly, i dont think the first definition in this dictionary is correct...

I dont know if this is a proper dictionary...

for me as a Thai, "ว่า" = "to say" is weird...

(the 2nd and 3rd are perfect)

it's more like a preposition imo.., as i've explain in the previous comment..

anyway, u may ask any Thai to confirm about this..

"Ask any Thai" is not the way to solve this issue. I suspect that the problem here is that you do not understand the full semantic range of English "to say".

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/say

As many people who are untrained in linguistics or the study of language tend to do, you (and others here) are looking for a one-to-one correspondence between Thai and English words. That's not the way translation between languages works.

[chopin99]

"Ask any Thai" is not the way to solve this issue. I suspect that the problem here is that you do not understand the full semantic range of English "to say".

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/say

As many people who are untrained in linguistics or the study of language tend to do, you (and others here) are looking for a one-to-one correspondence between Thai and English words. That's not the way translation between languages works.

personallly, i dont think the first definition in this dictionary is correct...

I dont know if this is a proper dictionary...

for me as a Thai, "ว่า" = "to say" is weird...

(the 2nd and 3rd are perfect)

it's more like a preposition imo.., as i've explain in the previous comment..

anyway, u may ask any Thai to confirm about this..

Yes, interresting what other Thai people say about this

I have a big dictionnary, the one you find in every bookshop in Thailand, it's " New se-ed's english-thai ... dictionnary "

and it's written for "ว่า"

to say, to speak, to remark ; to complain, to blame, to scold , to admonish, to sing

adv: say, thus ; conj : that

I can't say what is a proper dictionnary but this one is from Professor Dr.Wit Thiengburanathum

I have already noticed on this same forum that the few Thai people we have here don't always agree with each other about Thai language

are there several Thai languages ( north, east, south, west ) ?

in my language, every body has the same opinion about how to build a sentence and the meaning of words

1.Yes, there'r North, North East, South and Central... language

but when it comes to written language... there's only one, Central

2.I think, asking any Thai may not be the answer

but if 9 of 10 Thai answer the same thing

Would u still believe in the dictionary...

3.Only for some words that r not agreeable among Thai >> some words developed and their meaning and usage changed...

I saw a lot of them in English as well, like... maybe "FTW"

One more thing, the DrWit Dictionary is surely not a proper one, so many mistakes there.

And It is used only by a few % of Thai

You can find a proper one (at least for the large portion of Thai) here http://dictionary.sanook.com/search/dict-th-th-royal-institute

It's TH-TH though...

Btw, I wont be back here in this thread anymore...

Cuz, at first, i just wanna share how to use Thai word...

now the purpose seems to divert... and it's no point for me to argue the meaning of Thai word against foreigner

believe mine or not, it's your choice...

not a big deal anyway...

[p_brownstone]

Quote from Chopin99

Btw, I wont be back here in this thread anymore...

Cuz, at first, i just wanna share how to use Thai word...

now the purpose seems to divert... and it's no point for me to argue the meaning of Thai word against foreigner

believe mine or not, it's your choice...

not a big deal anyway...

Unquote

What's the Thai for "flounce"?? ("Sabat Doot" I think - sorry I can't write Thai on this Computer)

It's a public Forum young man - which means that anyone can contribute their opinions.

Grow up and engage in debate, don't run away at the first suggestion that someone may dare to disagree with you.

Patrick

Edited May 29, 2016 by p_brownstone

[tgeezer]

What this post is asking for is a translation of English, Eng. Thai dictionaries record these translations perfectly well but that doesn't mean that it is Thai.

The teacher tells the children to sit down. ครูเล่าให้เด็กนั่ง A Thai will think, how strange, English uses the word 'tell' as in 'tell a story' . One is never sure which translations are acceptable because much of what is now Thai is actually translated English.

ครู้ให้เด็กนั่ง . (The teacher had the children sit down) Seems perfectly alright to me unless one feels that "tell " is important.

ครูว่า โปรดนั่งค่ะ this is fine because the relationship says it's an order, overly polite

? but that is how teachers teach politeness.

The teacher talks with the children. That is to exchange news or views isn't it? คุย= พูดจาสนทนากัน is about the same.

ครูคุยกับเด็กเด็ก

ครูกับเด็ก ๆ คุย could work but as in English we often add 'together' so in the same way กัน could be added to that.

Bear in mind less literate (or modern) English can have : The teacher was like, "sit down". How does Thai say that?

[siam2007]

personallly, i dont think the first definition in this dictionary is correct...

I dont know if this is a proper dictionary...

for me as a Thai, "ว่า" = "to say" is weird...

(the 2nd and 3rd are perfect)

it's more like a preposition imo.., as i've explain in the previous comment..

anyway, u may ask any Thai to confirm about this..

"Ask any Thai" is not the way to solve this issue. I suspect that the problem here is that you do not understand the full semantic range of English "to say".

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/say

As many people who are untrained in linguistics or the study of language tend to do, you (and others here) are looking for a one-to-one correspondence between Thai and English words. That's not the way translation between languages works.

hilarious that some Farang believe they can teach native Thais on how to use their language..... oh, and it is very obvious this Thai person is very much fluent in English too.... for sure more fluent than you are in Thai. But you already scared him/her away, congrats !

[swoods58]

Wow. chopin99 please come back. I read your first post and thought "Great! A knowledgeable, articulate Thai person who can give give clear definitive answers to my Thai language questions". Sorry it didn't last.