I want......

[Guest]

Phom yak dai beer sing (I want (or would like) a beer sing.

 

 

 

What is "tong karn"? Is this "I want....." also, and is interchangable, or should they be used in different situations?

 

 

 

I'm a newbie to pasa Thai, and I'm asumming that this is what both mean. Thanks.

 

 

 

HT

[bibblies]

Tongkarn is more "to need".

 

 

 

Yaak is want, kor is would like. I tend to say "Kor [whatever] noi" if I'm feeling polite. (Noi softens a request.)

 

 

 

Linguaphone tells you to say "Aw" - will have - to waiters, etc. On the other hand, I've never heard a conversation go the Linguaphone way!

[Guest]

bibblies,

 

 

 

Hey...thanks. That's been bugging me for a long time. Same-same, I'm gettin' this stuff from books, which always seem to contradict each other. I thought 'AWE' meant 'want'. Got this from a post here where a punter kept saying 'ouwe' (as in ouch, without the 'ch' ending sound) when a B/G was biting his nipples, and she thought he was saying "I want", so bit them till bloody (funny post). And to back this up, 'mai aw(ow) means 'don't want'.

 

 

 

So 'Kor beer sing noi' is more soft than 'Kor beer sing Khrap', or would you say, "kor beer sing noi, khrap"

 

 

 

HT

 

 

[Guest]

>>>Yaak is want<<<

 

 

 

Sorry...one more thing. What is 'dai'? If Yaak is 'want', why would I just not say "phom yaak beer Sing noi", as opposed to "phom yaak dai beer sing noi"?

 

 

 

HT

 

 

[Guest]

Yaak or yahk or however you want to spell it must be followed by a verb, not a noun. eg yaak pay (want to go) or yaak gin (want to eat)

 

So in your example it can be followed by day. However if you want a beer then it would be easiest to say 'Ao bee-a sing krup'.

 

Dtorng-gahn is need, but Thais can use it in the context of really hanging out for something. So if you're lathered in sweat and stumble in to a bar, you say 'dtorng-gahn bee-a sing krup'.

 

 

[Guest]

>>dtorng-gahn bee-a sing krup<<

 

 

 

Maybe if you're an alcoholic.

 

 

 

Yaak Dai or Awe, possible but not a very polite way.

 

 

 

Ordering a Singha beer I would say.

 

 

 

"Khor beer Singh khuat Nung (kaew Nung) khrap.

 

I Would like to have a bottle (glass) of singha beer.

[Fidel]

Orandanodes,

 

 

 

I have been told by Thais that 'Khor..' is used more often to mean 'give me', for example, if you are in a friend's house and you want to ask for a glass of water.. 'Khor nam gaeow neung khrap' means 'Can you give me a glass of water please?'

 

 

 

I understand that it is a polite way of asking for something but usually means 'please GIVE me' ie. not in the sense of paying for it.

 

 

 

I would use Aow nam gaeow neung khrap'.

[Brink15]

Fidel,

 

 

 

I have to reaffirm what Orandanodes previously posted. "Aow" is less polite, "kor" is polite. Has nothing to do with pay or free. It would be the difference between saying "I want" and "May I please have" in English

 

 

 

When I go out to eat with friends from upper class Thai families, I never hear "aow" but always hear "kor" when ordering.

 

 

 

Also they never use "gin" for eat but always use "tan."

 

 

 

You can use either, but Thais can tell a lot about from whom you've learned your Thai, by which you choose.

 

 

[Fidel]

I stand corrected... by a lobster!

 

 

 

Ah well, just goes to show the company I keep eh?

[bibblies]

"Thais can tell a lot about from whom you've learned your Thai, by which you choose"

 

 

 

Not necessarily! I learnt most of my Thai from a Linguaphone course, where it drummed into me that one should say "Aw" when speaking to a waitress. I changed to "Kor" pretty quickly in practise as I didn't hear any Thais, bar girls or not, using it.