Courses > Conversation Course Trial > Lesson 2
 

Lesson 2: First Sentences

Description:
In this lesson we talk about a very simple sentence pattern that is very similar to English. We'll also cover negating verbs and asking questions.

Lesson 2 PDF
(Right click on link to download)

NEW! Watch the Video for this lesson!

 

Grammar Notes:

The basic sentence structure for Thai Language is very similar to English. Both languages use a sentence pattern of:

Subject + Verb + Object
Asking a question in Thai is often quite easy. It is done by just adding the word  mái  to the end of the sentence. This word can be translated as "or not?".

A similar word to  mái  is  mâi  which means "not" and is used to make a verb negative. Be careful with these two words! As you can see they have a different tone mark ( mái  vs  mâi ) and are spelled very differently in Thai script.

Compare the sentences below to see how the subject-verb-object pattern works in Thai, and also how to use "not" to negate a verb and "or not?" to ask a question. Also note the use of  ká  and  kâ  depending on whether or not the sentence is a question.

they have a pen
pôo.ak kǒw mee þàhk-gah  kâ / kráp 
lit: they have pen (polite ending)
F
M
do they have a pen ?
pôo.ak kǒw mee þàhk-gah mái  ká / kráp 
lit: they have pen or not? (polite ending)
F
M
they do not have a pen
pôo.ak kǒw mâi mee þàhk-gah  kâ / kráp 
lit: they not have pen (polite ending)
F
M
As one final note, also notice in the above sentences that Thai Language does not have any articles (a, an, or the) before the nouns. You can practice these sentences in the "Sentence Builder" tab at the top of this page.
 

Word List:

EnglishPhoneticAudioThai
pencil din-sǎw ดินสอ
pen þàhk-gah ปากกา
or not? mái ไหม
not mâi ไม่
she teu เธอ
he kǒw เขา
they pôo.ak kǒw พวกเขา
we pôo.ak row พวกเรา
want ow เอา
have mee มี
 

Sample Sentences:

These sentences are based on the patterns described in the
Grammar section. Click here to see slightly different versions.
kun ow din-sǎw kráp
คุณ เอา ดินสอ ครับ
you want a pencil (male speaker)

pôo.ak kǒw mâi mee þàhk-gah kráp
พวกเขา ไม่ มี ปากกา ครับ
they do not have a pen (male speaker)

kun ow din-sǎw mái kráp
คุณ เอา ดินสอ ไหม ครับ
do you want a pencil ? (male speaker)

 
Enjoying ITS4Thai? Tell a friend. Have Comments or Suggestions? Send us feedback by email.