Guest Posted June 2, 2003 Report Share Posted June 2, 2003 Hi, Both 'at ja', and 'bang tee' = "maybe". What are the proper usages? A friend here who knows a little Thai, says 'at ja' is used more like "probably not', while 'bang tee' is used to mean '50/50 chance'. Also said 'bang tee' is used more often by Thai's. Is this correct? Thanks........HT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 2, 2003 Report Share Posted June 2, 2003 "Both 'at ja', and 'bang tee' = "maybe". What are the proper usages? A friend here who knows a little Thai, says 'at ja' is used more like "probably not', while 'bang tee' is used to mean '50/50 chance'. Also said 'bang tee' is used more often by Thai's. Is this correct?" Hi, this response may seem a bit pedantic.. but bear with me... Bang tee (ºÒ§·Õ) on its own has a few different types of use and can roughly translate as 'sometimes' and 'occasionally' as well as 'perhaps' or 'maybe'. Firstly, worth noting is that it's most often used at the start of a sentence..(before the subject).. Secondly, and more commonly it is used in combination with 'aht ja'.. to have the meaning of 'maybe' otherwise it is more akin to 'sometimes/occasionally'. Eg. 'Bang tee phom (gor) aht ja pai teeow' = Perhaps/Maybe I will go out. Eg. 'Bang tee kow aht ja chob pooying kon nun' = Perhaps/Maybe he likes that girl. Eg. 'Phom kit wah bang tee kow aht mee fan laew = I think maybe she has a boyfriend already. It CAN be used at the end of a phrase if you have the word 'pen' (verb to be) before it.. eg. 'phom pai teeow pen bang tee' = 'bang tee phom (gor) pai teeow' (¼Ãä»à ·ÕèÂÇà »ç¹ºÒ§·Õ = ºÒ§·Õ¼Ã¡çä»à ·ÕèÂÇ). But in this context the meaning is more like 'sometimes'.. 'Aht ja', or simply 'aht' is probably more in common use as an equivalent to the English 'maybe' or 'might'..(to my ears anyway). And it's always used after the subject. Eg. I will maybe go.. = phom aht ja pai.. Eg. She might go to watch a movie tomorrow = kow aht ja pai doo nang prungnee.. I don't know if you could put a percentage value on differentiating these. In these contexts they just simply mean 'maybe' or 'perhaps' in my understanding. On the other hand 'probably' would more correctly be translated as 'kong ja' (¤§¨Ã) or 'kong'.. It is used in the same structural form as 'aht ja' and has a higher percentage of proabability.. Personally if you are trying to use the equivalent of 'maybe' I would just stick to 'aht ja'.. Hope this is of some use.. Cheers, FF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 3, 2003 Report Share Posted June 3, 2003 Hi FF, Thanks for the detailed response. :: HT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 3, 2003 Report Share Posted June 3, 2003 Eg. 'Bang tee phom (gor) aht ja pai teeow' = Perhaps/Maybe I will go out. Eg. 'Bang tee kow aht ja chob pooying kon nun' = Perhaps/Maybe he likes that girl. Eg. 'Phom kit wah bang tee kow aht mee fan laew = I think maybe she has a boyfriend already. In spoken language it is better to leave the "BangTee" out in these sentences. Aht Ja is sufficient. Or its also OK to leave the Aht Ja out, as BangTee only will do the job. A bit double up here FF. In the last sample, I would put BangTee in front, making the meaning something like "at times I think he/she may have a GF/BF already. Easiest is to use BangTee when meaning "sometimes or At Times" and Aht Ja when using "Maybe or might", as Aht Ja really doesn't have another meaning. To usie them both in one sentence makes the sentence too long and sound rather formal (or more like written language) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 3, 2003 Report Share Posted June 3, 2003 Hi Orandanodes, Two questions come to mind. First, are 'aht', and 'aht ja' one and the same, with using only 'aht' by itself, just being lazy? Or are there times when you can use 'aht' by itself, but under certain circumstances, you must use the 'ja' along with it? Second, I'm reading you that: "Phom kit wa bang tee bai Kho Tao preung nee" = "I think that occasionally I go Kho Tao tomorrow"........thus would not make sense. I've always used 'aht ja' for "might/maybe", and never had any problems being understood. Reason I bring this up is that I just checked Nuttawud's site, after a long absence, and noticed he added the phrase "ja bai nai" = where you go? First time I've seen "bai nai" with "ja" in front of it. What exactly does "aht" and "ja" mean independant of each other, and does their meaning change, when place together? Thanks. HT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samak Posted June 3, 2003 Report Share Posted June 3, 2003 ahtja and aht, means the same; but usually in spoken language ahtja is used ja is also used for future tense; khun ja pai nai = where will you go this should also answer your other questions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 3, 2003 Report Share Posted June 3, 2003 "Eg. 'Bang tee phom (gor) aht ja pai teeow' = Perhaps/Maybe I will go out. Eg. 'Bang tee kow aht ja chob pooying kon nun' = Perhaps/Maybe he likes that girl. Eg. 'Phom kit wah bang tee kow aht mee fan laew = I think maybe she has a boyfriend already. In spoken language it is better to leave the "BangTee" out in these sentences. Aht Ja is sufficient. Or its also OK to leave the Aht Ja out, as BangTee only will do the job. A bit double up here FF. In the last sample, I would put BangTee in front, making the meaning something like "at times I think he/she may have a GF/BF already." Nothing personal, but this forum has a tendency to be nitpicky.. Anyway, the original poster HT, asked "What are the proper usages of these words?" in relation to 'maybe'? yeah??? Well, those examples I gave as such because that's what he wanted.. He wanted to know the usage of Bang Tee as 'maybe'.. So I gave it. If you were to drop the 'aht ja' out of these sentences they would have a different meaning. Agreed? eg. 'bang tee phom pai teeow'.. Anyway, I really beg to differ on this that these sentences are formal or written Thai as you state with 'bang tee' and 'aht ja' combined. I know you've been in this country and speaking Thai for many years.. Surely you've heard people say things like 'bang tee chun aht ja pai teeow talae' in response to a question like.. 'what will you do this weekend?'.. So, why is it that I, in my short time here comparatively to you, have heard Thais speak this way? Maybe I need a new set of ears? Maybe I'm hearing things.. or maybe I was dreaming about some written Thai that I'd read? I don't think so. As for the final sentence.. It is really neither here nor there.. Just a manner of speech.. Some Thais may say 'phom kit wah bang tee..' and some may say 'bang tee phom kit wah.. ' I actually was consulting about this as I was writing it and that was an example given to me by a Thai friend.. So I guess that proves my point. It's all about learning here.. so I rarely post without running my ideas by a few Thai friends before posting. Cheers, FF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pescator Posted June 3, 2003 Report Share Posted June 3, 2003 Hi FF, In many cases there isn`t a "correct way" of saying this or that. It will often depend on the speaker in question. And thai language comes in many variations as you know depending on what kind of people you are interacting with. Nothing personal, but this forum has a tendency to be nitpicky.. You are being kind :: Not only nitpicky but "showoff-ish". The result being that the original poster HT who shows a genuine desire to learn only gets confused, so I would assume anyway. I appreciate very much your contributions to this board, keep it coming! Cheers Hua Nguu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markle Posted June 4, 2003 Report Share Posted June 4, 2003 Says friendlyfiend: In spoken language it is better to leave the "BangTee" out in these sentences. Aht Ja is sufficient. Or its also OK to leave the Aht Ja out, as BangTee only will do the job. A bit double up here FF. [/b] Anyway, I really beg to differ on this that these sentences are formal or written Thai as you state with 'bang tee' and 'aht ja' combined. I know you've been in this country and speaking Thai for many years.. Surely you've heard people say things like 'bang tee chun aht ja pai teeow talae' in response to a question like.. 'what will you do this weekend?'.. So, why is it that I, in my short time here comparatively to you, have heard Thais speak this way? Maybe I need a new set of ears? Maybe I'm hearing things.. or maybe I was dreaming about some written Thai that I'd read? I don't think so. . I concur with FF I've heard and used that particular structure many times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 4, 2003 Report Share Posted June 4, 2003 HT ÃÒ¨ (aht) can IMO not be used without ¨à (Ja) ¨à (ja) alone is used in combination with another verb to indicate a future tense. Ã񬬈 (Ahtja) turns it into "maybe, perhaps" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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