How to use the word "for"?

[markle]

There are two Thai words that cover 'for'

 

They are à¾×èà (peua) and ÊÓËÃѺ (samrap)

 

 

 

à¾×èà (peua) tends to cover actions you do for someone

 

whereas ÊÓËÃѺ (samrap) tends to be things that are for a purpose

 

Consequently both would work in this instance.

 

à¾×èà (peua) covers the fact that you bought something for your sister

 

and ÊÓËÃѺ (samrap) would cover that the shirt was for your sister

 

So it would depend on the context on wherter you wanted to emphasize the buying or the item bought.

 

 

 

See, clear as mud.

[Guest]

See, clear as mud.

 

 

 

Yep. Markle, how about some examples?

 

 

 

I haven't heard the word 'samrap' very often. Different languages have different constructs. I suspect 'i bought this book for 100 Baht' construct is said in Thai without the use of 'samrap'. Something like, 'rakaa nang-sue lem nii roy baht'.

 

 

 

Another example, in English you might say, "Tip for you," say if you give some money to the maid. In Thai, I was told, you'd say 'tip kong khun' [your money].

[markle]

I restricted my examples to the specific question for two reasons

 

1 It's after 1am

 

2 I cracked open my So Sethaputra and it gave me 16 defintions for 'for'

 

 

 

Your example 'i bought this book for 100 Baht' uses 'for' in a different way to "I bought this book for you" (pom seu nungseu samrap kun)

 

 

 

"Tip for you," say if you give some money to the maid. In Thai, I was told, you'd say 'tip kong khun' [your money].

 

And samrap would work as well (Tip nee samrup khun) but Thais don't construct the expression in that way.

 

 

 

To reiterate ÊÓËÃѺ(samrap) is mostly used in instances where a thing is for a certain person or purpose i.e. the shirt is for my sister.

[Guest]

There are two Thai words that cover 'for'

 

They are à¾×èà (peua) and ÊÓËÃѺ (samrap)

 

 

 

Whereas this is technically correct, IMO these words are normally not used in the context of the original post.

 

 

 

To say "I bought this shirt for your sister" one would commonly say "Pom sue sua mah faak nong/pii sao" or "Pom sue sua mah hay nong/pii sao". No use of the english word "for" at all. Both translate into "I bought a shirt to give to your sister".

 

 

 

à¾×èà can be used as "for" but is closer to "in order to"

[Guest]

'faak' is also used to mean deposit, your second example 'hai' - to give is probably the better option. but 'pua' can also be used no problems.

[Guest]

Thanks for the replies. Or should I say, "the replies have been very helpful, thank you!". Once again as with so much in Thai, it seems to be based very much on context and learning to say things in a way that is unlike English. By that I mean, often it seems a lot of language "constructs" used in western languages don't exist much(to such a degree) in Thai and one has to find a "work around" to explain something which in English would be relatively easy, not that English is easy. Conversely, there are constructs in Thai that are fairly easy to learn, but that's where it ends.

 

Thanks again

[Guest]

>>>>To say "I bought this shirt for your sister" one would commonly say "Pom sue sua mah faak nong/pii sao" or "Pom sue sua mah hay nong/pii sao". No use of the english word "for" at all. Both translate into "I bought a shirt to give to your sister". <<<<<<

 

 

 

I believe there is a subtle difference in the meaning of these two sentences.

 

 

 

"Pom sue sua mah faak non/pii sao", would, I believe, indicate that you purchased the shirt for your sister AS A GIFT.

 

 

 

"Pom sue sua mah hay non/pii sao", would, I believe, mean that you bought it IN HER STEAD. I.e., you were going to the store, and your sister asked you to bring her back a shirt for her, which you did. As it was not a gift, she will probably pay you back for it.

 

 

 

Anyone else agree / disagree?

[markle]

Not necessarily disagreeing But....

 

 

 

'sue mah faak' and 'sue mah hay' have subtle differences but not in the way you state. Both can be used when buying something as a gift

 

 

 

but buying in her stead would use a different construct like "pii sao faak pom sue sua nee" or "pom sue sua ti piisao faak sue"

 

 

 

orandanodes.

 

Your right I fell into the trap of translating the English literally instead of writing what a Thai would say.

[Guest]

Yes, I agree with you that your new sentences make the meaning much more explicit.

 

 

 

I'm interested to know, though, what you perceive as the subtle difference in meaning bewteen the original two sentences ("pom seu sua faak piisao" vs. "pom seu sua hai piisao")?

[Guest]

I probably know when to use which word in Thai, but to explain the subtle differences in english in another matter.

 

Perhaps one of the english language teachers on the board can help out. Then again differences in Thai words can not always be converted to different english words.