How to use the word "for"?

[Guest]

I agree with orandanodes. 'for' in this sentence cannot be translated. You must think about what is actually happening - The shirt is being GIVEN to someone. This is the main verbal function that needs to be translated (apart from the 'buying', but that is more a straight forward translation). So, I would agree that 'hai' (to give) would be much more suitable in translation here..

 

 

 

Just as a sidenote, according to my Thai grammar book - sumrup is used as a preposition to indicate the 'purpose' of an action or object. So, some examples where you could translate sumrup as 'for' could be...

 

 

 

- I bought these prawns for (with the purpose to make) tom yum goong.

 

 

 

- This car was used for (the purpose of getaway) the robbery.

 

 

 

or even more simply..

 

 

 

- That glass (its purpose) is for beer.

 

 

 

 

 

The other word mentioned, 'peua' - should be used as a conjunction to translate something like - 'in order to' or 'in order that'. I can't think of many sentences where you could directly translate it as 'for' but here's a few....

 

 

 

I arrived for (in order to catch) the early flight...

 

I went to the market for (in order to have) fun.. 'peua sanook..' etc. etc...

 

 

 

Cheers,

 

FF

 

 

 

 

[bibblies]

I agree too. I always had trouble with "for" and other over-used words in English until I started to rethink them.

 

 

 

When I first asked the Thai word for "for" and was given the stock reply "samrap", I immediately I noticed that I hadn't heard many Thais say that!

 

 

 

"I bought the shirt to give to my sister."

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

'tip khong khun' = your tip.

 

Doesn't indicate the giver. Woudn't say this when giving a tip to the maid or a waiter/waitress though.

 

 

 

It more appropriate to say something like "nii hai namjai (hai Nong/Khun etc.)" nah jah. Or nii hai khun/nong nah jah".

 

 

 

 

[Crash999]

"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")? "

 

 

 

I've never heard anyone use 'faak' like this so I called up a Thai friend of mine and asked her just now. In terms of usage she said that both can be used in exactly the same way.

 

 

 

But surely there must be SOME difference, I insisted.

 

 

 

She thought for a while and then told me that 'seu sua hai piisao' has a greater emphasis on handing over to the sister onesself, but 'seu sua faak pissao' means that you're buying it for your sister but not necessarily giving it to her yourself.