The Principles of Thai Language Part 1

หน้า ๑๖ : Nâa 16
The principles of Thai language Part 1

‘A good understanding of the principles helps you to learn Thai effectively and quickly’
ภาษาไทย : Paa-săa Thai : Thai language

Origins
Thai is the native language of Thai people in Thailand. Thai language is a member of the Tai-
Kadai language family in Southeast Asia. Thai is mutually intelligible with Lao.
Note: mutually intelligible = a relationship between languages or dialects in which
speakers of different but related languages can readily understand each other without
intentional study or extraordinary effort.
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Dialects
Thai has 4 main dialects;
• ภาษาไทย หรือ ภาษาภาคกลาง : Paa-săa Thai or Paa-săa Pâak Glaang : Central region or
Bangkok dialect is the national or official language spoken and is literate throughout
Thailand. Central Thai is the dialect taught in this course as it is understood by most
Thai people from around the country. (ภาค : Pâak = region; area, กลาง : Glaang = central)
• ภาษาถิ่นเหนือ หรือ ภาษาเหนือ : Paa-săa Tìn Nŭea or Paa-săa Nŭea : Northern dialect is
spoken in the northern region, in the formerly independent Kingdom of Lanna (Chiang Mai).
It is also known as ภาษาลานนา : Paa-săa Laan-naa or ภาษาคำเมือง : Paa-săa Kum Mueang.
(Tìn = region, Nŭea = north)
• ภาษาถิ่นอีสาน หรือ ภาษาอีสาน : Paa-săa Tìn E-săan or Paa-săa E-săan : North-eastern
dialect is spoken in the north-eastern region, a socio-culturally distinct Thai-Lao hybrid
dialect. (Ee-săan = the name of north-eastern region)
• ภาษาถิ่นใต้ หรือ ภาษาใต้ : Paa-săa Tìn Dtâi or Paa-săa Dtâi : Southern dialect is spoken in
the southern region. It is also known as ภาษาตามโพร : Paa-săa Dtaam-Pro (ใต้ : Dtâi = south)
English in Thailand
ภาษาอังกฤษ : Paa-săa Ung-grìd : English is taught in Thai schools as a foreign language and is
mostly used in business communication.
Ethnic dialects
In addition to the main dialects mentioned above, Thailand is home to other related Tai (Dai)
languages spoken by ethnic groups of people, for example;
• จีนแต้จิ๋ว : Jeen Dtâir-jĭw : Chaozhou Chinese is spoken in Chinese communities in Bangkok
The Principles of Thai language Part 1 - By Avarin Lane (Kruu Jiab) - Thai Style Language Co.,Ltd. 2008-2019 www.learnthaistyle.com
หน้า ๑๗ : Nâa 17
• มอญ : Morn (Mon) is spoken in the Central region
• ไทพวน : Thai Puan is spoken in Central, Isan and Northern-Laos regions
• ผู้ไท : Pûu Thai is spoken around Nakhon Phanom Province in north-eastern Thailand
• ไทใหญ่ : Thai Yài (also known as Shan, Thai Lŭang, Tai Lông) is spoken in the north-west
along the border with the Shan States of Burma
• เขมร : Ka-mĕ_n (Khmer) is spoken along the Isan border with Cambodia
• ไทลื้อ : Lúee (Dai) is spoken in Northern Thailand
• อูรกั ลาโว้ย : Uu-rùk-laa-wóy (Orang Laut) is spoken by Sea Gypsies in Phuket and around the
islands in the Andaman sea
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Words
Thai is a monosyllabic language which means original Thai words have only one syllable (see
note below). For example, พ่อ : Pôr (dad), แม่ : Mâe (mum), these two words are adapted from
babies sounds made naturally when they are young. Original Thai words mostly have only one
syllable and have complete meaning on their own, which can be understood promptly upon
hearing.
Note: A syllable is a unit of organisation for a sequence of spoken sounds. For example,
the word water is composed of two syllables: wa and ter,
the word elephant is composed of three syllables: e, le and phant,
the word beginner is composed of three syllables: be, gin and ner,
the word congratulations is composed of five syllables : con, grat, u, la and tions.
A syllable is typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with an optional
initial (main consonant) and final margins which are typically consonants (final consonants).
Syllables are often considered the phonological "building blocks" of words. They can
influence the rhythm of a language, its prosody, its poetic meter, its stress patterns, etc.
Examples:
Relatives: พ่อ : Pôr (father, dad), แม่ : Mâe (mother, mum), ลูก : Lûuk (child), พี่ : Pêe
(Older sister or brother; elder person; a title used in front of a elder person’s
name), น้อง : Nórng (Younger sister or brother, younger person, a title used in
front of a younger person’s name)
Things: จาน : Jaan (dish), นา : Naa (Rice field), บ้าน : Bâan (house)
Animals: หมา : Măa (dog), แมว : Maew (cat), ไก่ : Gài (chicken), งู : Nguu (snake)
Nature: ดิน : Din (soil), น้ำ : Núm (water, liquid), ไฟ : Fai (fire), ร้อน : Rórn (hot)
Pronouns: ผม : Pŏ’m (I, used by males only), ฉัน : Chŭn (I, used by females only), เธอ : Ter
(you, to address a female), กู : Guu (I, rude word), มึง : Mueng (you, rude word)
Verbs: ไป : Bpai (to go), นั่ง : Nûng (to sit), กิน : Gin (to eat), เดิน : Dern (to walk)
หน้า ๑๘ : Nâa 18
Classification/unit: ฝูง : Fŭung (group of animals), พวก : Pûak (group of humans or
things), ใบ : Bai (leaf), คน : Ko’n (a unit word for humans), ตัว : Dtua
(a unit word for animals and some figures or structures)
Adjectives or adverbs: อ้วน : Ûan (fat), ผอม : Pŏrm (slim; thin; skinny), ดี : Dee (good),
เลว : Le_w (bad), ร้อน : Rórn (hot)
Quantity: หนึง่ : Nùeng (one), สอง : Sŏrng (two), พัน : Pun (thousand), มาก : Mâak (much),
หลาย : Lăay (Many)
Gender: สาว : Săaw (female), หญิง : Yĭng (female), ชาย : Chaay (male)
Compound words
Original Thai words can be combined with other words to make a new word, called
compound words. The meanings of compound words usually relate to the the original
words but sometimes they do not relate at all. In this book, we use the tilde symbol ( ~ )
to separate the Prime and Qualifier words in compound words.
Examples:
Relatives: ลูกสาว : Lûuk~Săaw means daughter
combined from ลูก : Lûuk (child) and สาว : Săaw (female)
ลูกชาย : Lûuk~Chaay means son
combined from ลูก : Lûuk (child) and ชาย : Chaay (male)
Things : ช้อนชา : Chôrn~Chaa means teaspoon
combined from ช้อน : Chôrn (spoon) and ชา : Chaa (tea)
ม้านั่ง : Máa~Nûng means stool
combined from ม้า : Máa (horse) and นั่ง : Nûng (to sit)
น้ำแข็ง : Núm~Kae’ng means ice
combined from น้ำ : Núm (water) and แข็ง : Kae’ng (hard; solid)
Animals : เสือดำ : Sŭea~Dum means panther
combined from เสือ : Sŭea (Tiger) and ดำ : Dum (black)
ม้าลาย : Máa~Laay means zebra
combined from ม้า : Máa (horse) and ลาย : Laay (stripe)
Nature: ไฟฟ้า : Fai~Fáa means electricity
combined from ไฟ : Fai (fire) and ฟ้า : Fáa (sky)
แม่น้ำ : Mâe~Núm means river
combined from แม่ : Mâe (mother; mum) and น้ำ : Núm (water)
Verbs : เดินเล่น : Dern~Lê_n means to stroll
combined from เดิน : Dern (to walk) and เล่น : Lê_n (play)
กินข้าว : Gin~Kâaw means to eat/have some food
combined from กิน : Gin (to eat) and ข้าว : Kâaw (rice)
Adjectives or adverbs: ร้อนแรง : Rórn~Raeng means strongly, rousing, vehemently
combined from ร้อน : Rórn (hot) and แรง : Raeng (strong)
หน้า ๑๙ : Nâa 19
สวยหรู : Sŭay~Rŭu means splendid, gorgeous
combined from สวย : Sŭay (beautiful) and หรู : Rŭu (posh).
Quantity: มากมาย : Mâak~Maay means plentifully, abundantly, various

combined from มาก : Mâak (much) and มาย : Maay (much)
เยอะแยะ : Yér’~Yae’ means plentifully; abundantly
combined from เยอะ : Yér’ (a lot) and แยะ : Yae’ (a lot).
Two or more syllable words

Original Thai words may have many syllables by adding a prefix but they still have the
same or just a slightly different meaning. It is like the natural changing of pronunciation of
some words according to attitude, personality, society, region, etc. of the speakers. In this
book, we use the hyphen symbol ( - ) to separate syllables in words that have more
than one syllable.
Examples:
• ไร : Rai means ‘What?’ or ‘thing(s)’ and can also be pronounced อะไร : À-rai. Nowadays,
อะไร : À-rai is commonly used and ไร : Rai has become a short word of อะไร : À-rai used
in informal situations.
• ผม : Pŏ’m means ‘I/me/my/mine, used by males speakers’ and can also be pronounced
กะผม : Gà-pŏ’m however Gà-pŏ’m is used in formal or official conversation.
• ฉัน : Chăn/Chŭn means ‘I/me/my/mine, used by females speakers’ and can also be
pronounced ดิฉัน : Dì-chŭn however Dì-chŭn is used in formal or official conversation.
• เดี๋ยว : Dĕaw means ‘a moment, just a moment’ and can also be pronounced ประเดี๋ยว :
Bprà-dĕaw however Bprà-dĕaw is not commonly used any more.
Some words in Thai are borrowed from Pali, Sanskrit, Old Khmer (Cambodia),
Chinese and English, called loaned words. Usually, words that have many syllables are
not real Thai words and have roots from other languages. We can analyse loan words by
their written form and sometimes pronunciation which you can learn at a higher level.
Examples:
Sanskrit: วิเคราะห์ : Wí-Krór’ (to analyse), แพทย์ : Pâed (doctor) , ภรรยา : Pun-yaa
(wife), ไปรษณีย์ : Bprai-sà-nee (post; mail)
Pali: วิชา : Wí-chaa (study subjects), เขต : Kè_d (boundary; border; area), ทุกข์ :
Tôok (be distressed), มัลลิกา : Mun-lí-gaa (jasmine)
Old Khmer: อาจ : Àad (maybe; might), เจริญ : Jà-lern (prosper; flourish; thrive), ขนาด :
(Cambodia) Kà-nâad (size; amount), ถวาย : Tà-wăay (to offer [to monk; royalty; holy
spirits]), ตำรวจ : Dtum-rûad (police), อำนาจ : Um-nâad (authority; power),
บังเอิญ : Bung-ern (unexpectedly; accidentally; by accident; by chance),
บันได : Bun-dai (stairs; steps), เฉพาะ : Chà-pór’ (specifically)
หน้า ๒๐ : Nâa 20
Chinese: ก๋วยเตี๋ยว : Gŭay-dtĕaw (noodles; noodles soup), เต้าหู้ : Dtâo-hûu (tofu;
bean curd), ใต้ฝุ่น : Dtâi-fòon (Typhoon), ยี่ห้อ : Yêe-hôr (brand; trademark),
ห้าง : Hâang (department store), หุ้น : Hôon (shares), ตั๋ว : Dtŭa (ticket)
English: คอมพิวเตอร์ : Korm-píw-dtêr (computer), ซุปเปอร์มาเก็ต : Sóob-bper-maa-gê’d
(supermarket), เครดิต : Kray-dìd (credit), การ์ด : Gáad (card), แก๊ส : Gé_d (gas),
ล็อก : Lórk (to lock), เสริ์ฟ : Sèrb (to serve), ช็อกโกเลต : Chòrk-go-lé’d
(Chocolate), เช็กค์บิลล์ : Chê’k~Bin (to have the bills)
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Tones in Thai language

Thai is a tonal language. There are five tones in Thai which are used to determine the
meaning of words; mid, low, falling, high and rising. Tones are just like a music tone that
have a pitch and can move up or down depending on the specified movement of each tone
in that particular language. (Learn more go to page 44)
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Usage of Thai words and meanings

One word but with different uses:
Some Thai words can have different functions and can have many meanings depending
where it’s added in a sentence and the context; the circumstances that form the setting
for an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood and
assessed.
Examples:
คุณ : Koon means 1. [personal pronoun] you (used to address a person who you
are talking to politely)
2. [title noun] Miss/Mrs/Mr (used as a polite title in front of a
persons first name or nickname/informal name)
e.g. คุณโทมัส : Koon Thomas = Mr Thomas,
คุณทอม : Koon Tom = Mr Tom
3. [noun] kindness
e.g. ขอบคุณ : Kôrb~Koon = Thanks for the kindness.
กิน : Gin means 1. [action verb] to eat e.g. กินข้าว : Gin Kâaw = to eat rice/food
2. [action verb] to drink e.g. กินน้ำ : Gin Núm = to drink water
3. [action verb] to consume e.g. กินยา : Gin Yaa = to consume
medicine/drug
อะไร : À-rai means 1. [Question word] what?
e.g. คุณกินอะไร : Koon Gin À-rai? = What do you eat?/ What
would you like to eat?
2. [noun] thing(s)/something/unknown thing(s)
e.g. ผมชอบอะไรทีค่ ณ
ุ ชอบ : Pŏ’m Chôrb À-rai Têe Koon Chôrb
= I (male) likes the things you like.
หน้า ๒๑ : Nâa 21
แล้ว : Láew means 1. [Link/Conjunction] then / and then (used at the
beginning of a sentence or in between two sentences)
e.g. คุณกินข้าวแล้วคุณกินยา : Koon Gin Kâaw Láew Koon Gin Yaa
= You eat food then consume/take medication.
2. [Modifier/Past tense word] already (used at the end of a
statement/sentence)
e.g. คุณทอมกินน้ำแล้ว : Koon Tom Gin Núm Láew
= Mr Tom has drunk some water already.
Situation and feeling:
When Thais speak, we think about situations and feelings and we would use the
appropriate words for the particular situation or feeling. Our Speak Thai Course aims to
teach you common everyday conversation however we also make sure you are aware of
other forms of speech in order to help you interact and understand Thai people.
Situations:
Official (government, official correspondence or document, News, etc)
Formal (company, corporate, bank, hotel, etc)
Colloquial/Informal (family, friends, street language, etc) - Colloquialism is a word,
phrase or other form used in informal language. It is distinct from formal speech or
formal writing. Colloquialism is related to, but is not the same as slang. Other examples
of colloquial usage in Thai include elision or contraction in speech.
Very informal/Familiar/Intimate (close family, close friends, etc.)
Examples:
Word Form Situation Meaning
อย่างไร : Yàang-rai? Original Formal [question] how?, what way of
ยังไง : Yung-ngai? Contraction Informal/Colloquial manner?, by what way of
Very informal/ manner?
ไง : Ngai? Elision [Noun] the way in which, that
Familiar
อย่างนั้น : Yàang~Nún Original Formal [conjunction] in that case
[conjunction] so
งั้น : Ngún Elision Informal/Colloquial
Note:
Elision is the omission of one or more sounds (such as a vowel, a consonant, or a
whole syllable) in a word or phrase, producing a result that is easier for the speaker to
pronounce. (as in gonna, wanna, labor(a)t(o)ry, comfort(a)ble, fam(i)ly him (im))
Contraction is a shortened version of the written and spoken forms of a word,
syllable, or word group, created by omission of internal letters (as in It is = It’s, do not
= don’t, let us = let’s, I am = I’m, You are = You’re)
หน้า ๒๒ : Nâa 22
Feeling:
Polite, Neutral, Impolite, Vulgar/Rude, Swear
Examples:
Word Form
Situation/Feeling Meaning
รับประทาน : Rúb~Prà-taan Original
Official/Polite
ทาน : Taan Original
Formal/Polite
กิน : Gin Original
Informal/Neutral [action verb] to eat, to drink,
Very informal/Intimate/ to consume
แดก: Daek Original
Vulgar/Rude
(The feeling of this word depends on who we talk with)
Neutral [noun] animal
สัตว์ : Sùd Original [swear] “Animal!” “You
Swear
animal!”
Other factors that influence the way Thais speak

Gender, Culture, Age, Slang, Exclamation, Onomatopoeia, etc.
Examples
Situation/
Word Form Meaning
Feeling
[personal pronoun] I/me/my/mine (used by male
ผม : Pŏ’m Original Gender
speakers)
[personal pronoun] I/me/my/mine (used by female
ฉัน : Chăn/Chŭn Original Gender
speakers)
[personal pronoun] you
(used to address
พี่ : Pêe Original Culture someone who is elder than one self
[noun] elder siblings ; elder brother/sister
[personal pronoun] you (used to address
น้อง : Nórng Original Culture someone who is younger than one self
[noun] younger siblings ; younger brother/sister
[action verb] [noun] an action or people, esp.
แว้น : Wáen Original Culture
teenagers, in a motorbike gang
เฮ้ย : Héoi/Héry Original Exclamation [exclamation] Oi! Hey!
ผัวะ : Pùa’ Original Sound [Onomatopoeia] slap ; whipping ; pop
หน้า ๒๓ : Nâa 23
Written Thai and Spoken Thai:

A written Thai word may be pronounced with several different accents by changing
the sound and the tone slightly but portraying the same meaning. This may occur
according to the personality, region, customs and feeling of an individual.
Examples
Word Form Situation/Feeling Meaning
Written/Proper [personal
ฉัน : Chăn/Chŭn Original
pronunciation pronoun] I/me/
my/mine (used by
ชั้น : Chán/Chún Transformed Spoken female speakers)
Written/Proper [personal
เขา : Kăo Original
pronunciation pronoun] he/him/
his, she/her/hers
(used to address
เค้า : Káo Transformed Spoken another person
one is talking
about)
Translation:
We can’t always translate words directly into another language so in order to
understand the word you must understand the sense of that word such as understand
that it is an action verb or a noun, etc.
Different languages have different grammar and sentence structure so a sentence in
one language can’t always be translated literally into another language. In order to
understand the sentence, you may need to interpret or perceive it in a different way.
When learning to speak Thai, you must be aware of the different factors and
situations to be able to speak fluently like a native.
...........................................................................................................
หน้า ๒๔ : Nâa 24
Particles or untranslatable words

English and many European languages use tones to indicate mood or feeling but in
Thai we use tones to indicate the meaning of words. How do Thais indicate mood or
feeling when we speak? The answer is that we use particles or untranslatable words
added to the end of a word, clause, statement, question sentence, etc. to indicate the
mood or feeling in a conversation such as politeness, rudeness, respecting, requesting,
demanding, commanding, emphasising, sweet-sounding, angriness, encouragement or other
moods, as well as varying the formality level of conversations in different situations. They are
not used in elegant or formal writing.
There are many ‘Particles’, often untranslatable words, in Thai language. The most
common particles are ‘ครับ : Krúb’ used by males, and ‘ค่ะ : Kâ’ used by females. They
are used to indicate respect or indicate that you are speaking politely. For example;
สวัสดี : Sà-wùd-dee means ‘Hello’, but in Thai it is customary to add a polite particle after
the word สวัสดี : Sà-wùd-dee. So, men would say ‘สวัสดีครับ : Sà-wùd-dee Krúb’ and women
would say ‘สวัสดีค่ะ : Sà-wùd-dee Kâ’ to greet someone politely.
Examples:
Word Particle(s) Feeling
สวัสดี : Sà-wùd-dee - Greet in a neutral manner which can
sound a bit harsh
สวัสดี : Sà-wùd-dee + ครับ : Krúb / ค่ะ : Kâ Greet politely
Hello polite particle
คุณ : Koon - Addressing a person politely in a neutral
manner which can be a bit harsh
คุณ : Koon + ครับ : Krúb / คะ : Ká Addressing a person politely in a very
You/Miss/Mrs/Mr polite particle polite manner
อะไร : À-rai? - Asking in a neutral manner which can be
a bit harsh
อะไร : À-rai? + ครับ : Krúb / คะ : Ká Asking in polite manner
What? polite particle
หน้า ๒๕ : Nâa 25
The tone of a particle can be changed depending the type of sentence

For example,
สวัสดีค่ะ : Sà-wùd-dee Kâ : Hello + polite particle with falling tone = Hello
ดีไหมคะ : Dee Măi Ká : be good + yes/no question word + polite particle with high tone
= Is it good?
You can see the particles in the two sentences have a different tone. The changing tone
of the particle is similar to the use of intonation in English, for example, ‘Is it good?’ with
rising pitch voice/tone at the end of the sentence and ‘It’s good.’ with mid tone.
...........................................................................................................
Basic grammar
Words: As mentioned, we cannot specify the meaning of some Thai words when we use
them on their own as one word may have many uses. Therefore, to clarify the meaning of a
word, it depends on the context. (See usage of Thai words and meanings)
We use gender words to indicate the gender of people and animals. For example, ลูกชาย
: Lûuk~Chaay translated literally means ‘offspring + male’ which is ‘son’. (ลูก : Lûuk = [noun]
offspring, ชาย : Chaay = [gender modifier] male)
In Thai language, objects do not have gender like in French, however there are some
exceptions which you will learn later on.
Thai language does not have articles like ‘a, an, the and some’. For example, ปากกา :
Bpàak~Gaa = a pen / pens.
Grammatical numbers (singular & plural form) or indicating quantity system; when we
indicate a quantity of something, we have the grammar called classifier or unit words to
specify things. For example,
ปากกาหนึ่งด้าม : Bpàak~Gaa Nùeng Dâam : pen + quantity one + unit word for pen = one pen
ปากกาสองด้าม : Bpàak~Gaa Sŏrng Dâam : pen + quantity two + unit word for pen = two pens
รถหนึ่งคัน : Ró’d Nùeng Kun : car + quantity one + unit word for car = one car
รถสองคัน : Ró’d Sŏrng Kun : car + quantity two + unit word for car = two cars
Therefore when you learn/memorise words for things, you must also learn/memorise
the unit word.
Thai words cannot transform like in English, for example, the word ‘go’ changes to ‘went;
gone’ to indicate a past tense. In Thai, the word ‘ไป : Bpai’ means ‘go; went; gone’, and can
be used in a sentence and have different meanings depending on the context.
หน้า ๒๖ : Nâa 26
Thai does not have tense and time forms like English but we use tense words and time words
to indicate the time.
Examples:
พ่อไปบ้าน : Pôr Bpai Bâan. = Dad goes home. (but do not know when)
พ่อไปบ้านแล้ว : Pôr Bpai Bâan Láew. = Dad has gone home. (or) Dad went home.
(Láew means already = tense word)
เขามาบ้าน : Kăo Maa Bâan = He comes home.
เขากำลังมาบ้าน : Kăo Gum-lung Maa Bâan = He’s coming home.
(Gum-lung = -ing, (something) is happening right now = tense word)
เขามาบ้านเมื่อวานนี้ : Kăo Maa Bâan Mûea-waan~Née = He came home yesterday.
(Mûea-waan~Née means yesterday = time word)
In conclusion, in order to change the genders, grammatical numbers, and tenses, there are
other words or contexts to clarify or explain the words or sentences.
Thai sentence structures or word order starts from left to right which is;
Subject + Explanation part
The Subject is the main thing that you are talking about
e.g. talking about oneself, ‘ผม/ฉัน : Pŏ’m/Chŭn = I ’ would be the first word of a sentence, talking
about another female, ‘เขา : Kăo = She’ would be the first word.
The Explanation part is used to clarify the Subject. It could be;
- The Verb is used to clarify what the subject is / does / has / acts / feels / etc.
- The Modifier (adverb/adjective) is used to clarify the Subject or the Verb.
For example, if we start by saying ‘เขา : Kăo’, this is the subject that we are talking about. It is not a
sentence yet so we can add an explanation word to clarify what we say about the subject, for
example, ชอบ : Chôrb is a verb meaning to like. So if we say ‘เขาชอบ : Kăo Chôrb, it means we
explain the feeling of the subject which is ‘He/She likes.’. However, it is still a vague sentence, so
one would add explanation part to clarify. ‘เขาชอบแมว : Kăo Chôrb Maew = He/She like cats.’ is a
complete sentence. However, the Explanation part is optional, if the sentence can be completely
understood with only the subject and a verb.
Note: In Thai, Verbs are any words used to indicate the following;
action.......................e.g. to run, to walk, to eat, to jump, to go, to come, etc.
feeling......................e.g. be happy, be sad, be well, be fine, be shock, to love, to like, etc.
to be.........................e.g. is/am/are, be, become
to have/possess.....e.g. to have/has/had, to possess, to own, to obtain/get, etc.
to do/make.............e.g. to do/does/did, to make, to create, to produce, to build, etc.
There are some words that have their own position in a sentence but Thai grammar and
sentence structure can be converted and is flexible depending on the context. You will learn
this step by step as you progress through this course.
Examples of basic statement sentences
หน้า ๒๗ : Nâa 27
Statement Sentence
Noun + Verb + Noun + Modifier
เขา : Kăo + เดิน : Dern - -
he/she to walk
แมว : Maew + กระโดด : Grà-dôd - -
cat to jump
ผม/ฉัน : Pŏ’m/Chŭn + ชอบ : Chôrb + แมว : Maew -
I male / I female to like cat
พ่อ : Pôr + มี : Mee + แมว : Maew + เยอะ : Yér
dad to have/own/possess cat a lot
Statement Sentence
Noun + Modifier + Modifier + Modifier
เขา : Kăo ใจดี : Jai~Dee -
he/she be good hearted
แมว : Maew น่ารัก : Nâa~Rúk มาก : Mâak มาก : Mâak
cat be cute/pretty/lovely very/very much very/very much
Examples of basic question sentences

Question Sentence
Statement Sentence + Question Word
Subject + Explanation part + Question Word
Noun + Verb + Noun + Modifier + Question Word
เขา : Kăo เดิน : Dern - - ไหม : Măi?
he/she to walk ?, Does…?
แมว : Maew กระโดด : Grà-dôd - - ไหม : Măi?
cat to jump ?, Does…?
คุณ : Koon ชอบ : Chôrb แมว : Maew - อะไร : À-rai?
you to like cat what?
พ่อ : Pôr มี : Mee แมว : Maew เยอะ : Yér ไหม : Măi?
dad to have/own/ cat a lot ?, Does…?
possess
หน้า ๒๘ : Nâa 28
Question Sentence
Statement Sentence + Question Word
Subject + Explanation part + Question Word
Noun + Verb + Noun + Modifier + Question Word
เขา : Kăo ใจดี : Jai~Dee - - ไหม : Măi?
he/she be good hearted ?, Is…?
แมว : Maew น่ารัก : Nâa~Rúk มาก : Mâak มาก : Mâak ไหม : Măi?
cat be cute/pretty/ very/very very/very ?, Is…?
lovely much much
...........................................................................................................

The Principles of Thai Language Part 1

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หน้า ๑๖ : Nâa 16

The principles of Thai language Part 1

ภาษาไทย : Paa-săa Thai : Thai language

Quantity: มากมาย : Mâak~Maay means plentifully, abundantly, various

Two or more syllable words

Tones in Thai language

Usage of Thai words and meanings

Other factors that influence the way Thais speak

Written Thai and Spoken Thai:

Particles or untranslatable words

The tone of a particle can be changed depending the type of sentence

Examples of basic question sentences

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