Guest Posted August 5, 2001 Report Share Posted August 5, 2001 Ok, future tense you put "ja" in front of the verb, completed action you put "laio" at the end of the sentence, how does one do plain old past tense, like I saw you yesterday? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 5, 2001 Report Share Posted August 5, 2001 Just like you hear it when Thai BGs speak English: "I see you yesterday." The verb doesn't change. In some cases 'dai' can be used to indicate past tense, as in 'Mua-waan-nii mai dai gin.' (Yesterday I didn't eat.) It's the same 'dai' as in can, but to say 'yesterday I couldn't eat' you'd say 'mua-waan-nii gin mai dai.' But I don't know the exact rules so I generally don't use 'dai' for past tense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boo Radley Posted August 5, 2001 Report Share Posted August 5, 2001 In general in spoken Thai, Thais don't always distinguish very clearly between the tenses, especially if the context makes it clear. One way the past tense can be expressed is by using the present tense together with a time marker eg WAN NEE POM PAI - today I go MEUA WAN NEE POM PAI- yesterday I went (lit. yesterday I go). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 5, 2001 Report Share Posted August 5, 2001 quote: Originally posted by lonestar: Ok, future tense you put "ja" in front of the verb, completed action you put "laio" at the end of the sentence, how does one do plain old past tense, like I saw you yesterday? Thai doesn't have tenses. Usually you just specify the time to imply the past. "maa meuakheun" - (I) came las night. "Maa" can be used to imply past tense (as in "pai nai maa?" - where did you do), suggesting having done something and come back. Or "laew", like you said indicating completion. "dai" or "mai dai" are kind of like a present perfect tense. "mai dai pai" - (I) did not go, (I) have not gone. OK, everything past the last sentence is just me babbling, because for some reason I love languages and think about them a lot. One of the things I love about the Thai language (and most other asian languages for that matter) is it doesn't have a bunch of redudnant information and multiple verb forms and conjugations with abitrary irregularities like European languages. I mean, if I say "I go yesterday", isn't the past already implied? Same with "I want two cup of water". Plurailty is implied by the number. Be/am/is/are/were/was - One verb! And it's not even a romance language. Swim/swam/swum... yikes! Thai's speaking poor English may sound stupid, but if you think about, English is really unneccessarily complicated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 6, 2001 Report Share Posted August 6, 2001 quote: English is really unneccessarily complicated. I used to think this too but the reason that English is so complex grammatically is the same reason why it's possible to communicate points so accurately and (even more so) colorfully. Thai for example is a language where it's not always possible to communicate 'exactly' what you want to say. I bet they don't have 200 adjectives to describe the splendour of the Taj Mahal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 6, 2001 Report Share Posted August 6, 2001 Originally posted by Bangkok Phil:"Thai for example is a language where it's not always possible to communicate 'exactly' what you want to say. I bet they don't have 200 adjectives to describe the splendour of the Taj Mahal." I'm not sure about that. Presumably, none of us are fluent in literary Thai, so it's really hard to judge. I bet there are plenty of Sanskrit/Pali-based words employed in Thai literature, which are able to express anything on earth, but which might not be entirely comprehensible to the average modern-day Thai. In English, there is only one form of address (you); French has two forms, German and Hindi/Urdu have three, Singhalese has six, and Thai has ten! So, there is some sophistication somewhere! (Even if in this case it reflects a kind of "caste consciousness".) I personally would only pass judgement on a language once I have complete mastery over it - which in the case of Thai probably will never come about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 6, 2001 Report Share Posted August 6, 2001 I work in a technical field in Thailand and the only way to express things is using the English term in the middle of a Thai sentence. There are no Thai equivalents. In some cases where there is a Thai phrase that could be used it isn't because it is too ambiguous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 7, 2001 Report Share Posted August 7, 2001 I saw you yesterday phom hen khun muea wan nee correctly you should say muea wan nee phom pai laew in this case you need "laew" wan nee phom pai. I think in most cases would be wan nee phom ja pai today I will go I dont really know exactly why,Im not a grammer expert, you would need a good thai teacher to explain the grammer rules (and thai does have them). I just know what sounds right.I would say it must be to do with the use of the time marker eg mueawan and what type of word follows the verb. The use of dai or mai dai doesnt effect tense,in this case they just mean can and can not. pai nai maa means "where have you been" or "where have you come from" maa means "come" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 7, 2001 Report Share Posted August 7, 2001 Rictic, it's quite natural for a language to import foreign words for technical products or processes which were only introduced to the country maybe a decade or two ago. In due time, maybe they will coin their own terms; or maybe they won't - after all the British never came up with a word of their own for the zeppelin either! All languages import words for things which don't exist in the own cultural spheres. The British had to import words like jungle, curry or pyjamas (from India), since these were unknown to them at one point. I don't know who invented the bra, but the word was taken from the French (brassiere). The Russians adopted the German word for bra, "Buestenhalter", and just changed it a bit to fit their palate (bistenchalter); the same happenend with the German word for wig-maker (Perueckenmacher), which became "perickmacher" in Russian. So far, the British haven't come up with a better word for a "yacht" or a "buoy"; both were adopted from Dutch. And I'm still looking forward to an English word for the "papadam" - Indian crisp? Sometimes, words are imported because they may sound exotic or - for a time - fashionable. The British adopted the Hindi words "thug" and "loot" into their language, though there were home-grown words available. There must also have been another word for "punch" (the drink), which is Hindi (from "panch", five; denoting a mixture of five ingredients). The expression "I don't give a damn" is just a corrupted, anglicised form of "I don't give a dam" - a "dam" was once the smallest (and almost worthless) coin on the Indian Subcontinent. "Wirtschaftswunder" isn't really English either, neither is "kindergarten". All languages import words, and all languages have short-comings; usually, we're least aware of the failings in our own languages. [ August 06, 2001: Message edited by: Scum_Baggio ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lamock Chokaprret Posted August 9, 2001 Report Share Posted August 9, 2001 Noo6 posted: quote: I saw you yesterday phom hen khun muea wan nee correctly you should say muea wan nee phom pai laew in this case you need "laew" I'm confused. Where is the 'saw' in the sentence you say is correct? Looks like you're saying 'yesterday I go already' or 'I went yesterday.' And why is 'nee' even needed? I thought: muea wan = yesterday wan nee = today So to say, I saw you yesterday: muea wan pom hen khun laew ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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