Learn how to say something in the present continuous tense
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| (Absolute Beginner Season 2 , Lesson 6 - What Are They Giving Those Thai Monks?) |
| Pim: สวัสดีค่ะ (sà-wàt-dii khâ) |
| Ryan: Ryan here! Absolute Beginner Season 2 , Lesson 6 - What Are They Giving Those Thai Monks? |
| Ryan: Hello, and welcome to ThaiPOD101.com, the fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Thai! |
| Pim: I'm Pim, and thanks again for being here with us for this Absolute Beginner S2 lesson. |
| Ryan: In this lesson you'll will learn how to say something in the present continuous tense in Thai. |
| Pim: This conversation takes place at Wat Pho, a famous temple in Bangkok. |
| Ryan: The conversation is between Dan and his new Thai friend, Gwang. |
| Pim: The speakers have just recently met each other, therefore they will be speaking polite Thai. |
| Ryan: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| แดน: คุณกวางครับ ตรงนั้นเขาทำอะไรกันอยู่เหรอครับ(khun gwaang khráp, dtrong-nán khǎo tham à-rai gan yùu rǒoe khráp.) |
| กวาง: อ๋อ เขากำลังถวายสังฆทานกันอยู่ค่ะ ของในถังสีเหลืองเป็นของใช้สำหรับพระสงฆ์ค่ะ (ǎaw...khǎo gam-lang thà-wǎai sǎng-khá-thaan gan yùu khâ. khǎawng nai thǎng sǐi-lǔueang bpen khǎawng-chái sǎm-ràp phrá-sǒng khâ.) |
| แดน: แล้วตรงนั้นล่ะครับ (láaeo dtrong-nán lâ khráp.) |
| กวาง: ตรงนั้นเขากำลังสวดมนต์กันอยู่ค่ะ (dtrong-nán khǎo gam-lang sùuat-mon gan yùu khâ.) |
| แดน: พวกเขาสวดมนต์กันทำไมเหรอครับ (phûuak-khǎo sùuat-mon gan tham-mai rǒoe khráp.) |
| กวาง: แต่ละคนเขาก็มีเหตุผลที่แตกต่างกันออกไปค่ะ (dtàae lá khon khǎo gâaw mii hèet-phǒn thîi dtàaek-dtàang gan àawk bpai khâ.) |
| English Host: Once again, slowly. |
| Thai Host: อีกครั้ง ช้า ๆ (ìik khráng cháa cháa) |
| แดน: คุณกวางครับ ตรงนั้นเขาทำอะไรกันอยู่เหรอครับ(khun gwaang khráp, dtrong-nán khǎo tham à-rai gan yùu rǒoe khráp.) |
| กวาง: อ๋อ เขากำลังถวายสังฆทานกันอยู่ค่ะ ของในถังสีเหลืองเป็นของใช้สำหรับพระสงฆ์ค่ะ (ǎaw...khǎo gam-lang thà-wǎai sǎng-khá-thaan gan yùu khâ. khǎawng nai thǎng sǐi-lǔueang bpen khǎawng-chái sǎm-ràp phrá-sǒng khâ.) |
| แดน: แล้วตรงนั้นล่ะครับ (láaeo dtrong-nán lâ khráp.) |
| กวาง: ตรงนั้นเขากำลังสวดมนต์กันอยู่ค่ะ (dtrong-nán khǎo gam-lang sùuat-mon gan yùu khâ.) |
| แดน: พวกเขาสวดมนต์กันทำไมเหรอครับ (phûuak-khǎo sùuat-mon gan tham-mai rǒoe khráp.) |
| กวาง: แต่ละคนเขาก็มีเหตุผลที่แตกต่างกันออกไปค่ะ (dtàae lá khon khǎo gâaw mii hèet-phǒn thîi dtàaek-dtàang gan àawk bpai khâ.) |
| English Host: Once again, with the English. |
| Thai Host: อีกครั้ง พร้อมภาษาอังกฤษ (ìik khráng phráawm phaa-săa ang-grìt) |
| แดน: คุณกวางครับ ตรงนั้นเขาทำอะไรกันอยู่เหรอครับ (khun gwaang khráp, dtrong-nán khǎo tham à-rai gan yùu rǒoe khráp.) |
| Ryan: Gwang, what are they doing over there? |
| กวาง: อ๋อ เขากำลังถวายสังฆทานกันอยู่ค่ะ ของในถังสีเหลืองเป็นของใช้สำหรับพระสงฆ์ค่ะ (ǎaw...khǎo gam-lang thà-wǎai sǎng-khá-thaan gan yùu khâ. khǎawng nai thǎng sǐi-lǔueang bpen khǎawng-chái sǎm-ràp phrá-sǒng khâ.) |
| Ryan: Oh...They're giving offerings to the monks. The things in the yellow bucket are useful items for the monks. |
| กวาง: ของในถังสีเหลืองเป็นของใช้สำหรับพระสงฆ์ค่ะ (khǎawng nai thǎng sǐi-lǔueang bpen khǎawng-chái sǎm-ràp phrá-sǒng khâ.) |
| Ryan: The things in the yellow bucket are useful items for the monks. |
| แดน: แล้วตรงนั้นล่ะครับ (láaeo dtrong-nán lâ khráp.) |
| Ryan: And what about over there? |
| กวาง: ตรงนั้นเขากำลังสวดมนต์กันอยู่ค่ะ (dtrong-nán khǎo gam-lang sùuat-mon gan yùu khâ.) |
| Ryan: Over there they are chanting prayers together. |
| แดน: พวกเขาสวดมนต์กันทำไมเหรอครับ (phûuak-khǎo sùuat-mon gan tham-mai rǒoe khráp.) |
| Ryan: Why do they pray? |
| กวาง: แต่ละคนเขาก็มีเหตุผลที่แตกต่างกันออกไปค่ะ (dtàae lá khon khǎo gâaw mii hèet-phǒn thîi dtàaek-dtàang gan àawk bpai khâ.) |
| Ryan: Each person has different reasons. |
| Ryan: So Khru Pim, what is this yellow bucket that they saw people giving to the monks in the conversation? |
| Pim: It’s called สังฆทาน (sǎng-khá-thaan). The name comes from two Sanskrit words. “Sangha” means the community of monks, and “dana” means “generosity” or “offerings”. So these are a sets of offerings to the monks that we can buy in certain shops already prepared. |
| Ryan: But why do they come inside a yellow bucket? |
| Pim: Well, the bucket is a kind of yellow or orange to match the color of the robes that the monks wear. The bucket is filled with a variety of useful everyday things for the monks. And the bucket itself is quite useful for any number of cleaning chores on the temple grounds. |
| Ryan: So what kinds of useful things might be in the bucket? |
| Pim: Oh, all sorts of stuff. Soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, canned food, instant coffee, pens, paper, candles, matches, batteries, tissue paper...You can find a large variety. |
| Ryan: I see. Now are people just giving this stuff to the monks to try to improve their own karma. |
| Pim: It does have that effect, but a lot of the time when we offer สังฆทาน (sǎng-khá-thaan) we do it in order to dedicate the merit from the good deed to our deceased relatives so that they will have a better rebirth in their next life. |
| Ryan: So you’re actually doubling your generosity? |
| Pim: That’s one way to look at it. |
| Ryan: OK, Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is: |
| Pim: ตรงนั้น (dtrong-nán) [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: there |
| Pim: ตรงนั้น (dtrong-nán) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Pim: ตรงนั้น (dtrong-nán) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Pim: ถวายสังฆทาน (thà-wǎai sǎng-khá-thaan) [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: to give offerings to Buddhist monks |
| Pim: ถวายสังฆทาน (thà-wǎai sǎng-khá-thaan) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Pim: ถวายสังฆทาน (thà-wǎai sǎng-khá-thaan) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Pim: ถัง (thǎng) [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: bucket |
| Pim: ถัง (thǎng) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Pim: ถัง (thǎng) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Pim: สีเหลือง (sǐi-lǔueang)[natural native speed] |
| Ryan: yellow |
| Pim: สีเหลือง (sǐi-lǔueang)[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Pim: สีเหลือง (sǐi-lǔueang) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Pim: ของใช้ (khǎawng-chái) [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: utensils, articles, equipment, items |
| Pim: ของใช้ (khǎawng-chái) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Pim: ของใช้ (khǎawng-chái) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Pim: สำหรับ (sǎm-ràp) [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: for |
| Pim: สำหรับ (sǎm-ràp) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Pim: สำหรับ (sǎm-ràp) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Pim: พระสงฆ์ (phrá-sǒng) [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: Buddhist monk |
| Pim: พระสงฆ์ (phrá-sǒng) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Pim: พระสงฆ์ (phrá-sǒng) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Pim: สวดมนต์ (sùuat-mon) [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: to pray, to chant prayers |
| Pim: สวดมนต์ (sùuat-mon) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Pim: สวดมนต์ (sùuat-mon) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Pim: ทำไม (tham-mai) [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: why |
| Pim: ทำไม (tham-mai) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Pim: ทำไม (tham-mai) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Pim: แตกต่าง (dtàaek-dtàang) [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: different, to be different |
| Pim: แตกต่าง (dtàaek-dtàang) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Pim: แตกต่าง (dtàaek-dtàang) [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Pim: The first phrase we’ll look at is.... |
| Pim: แต่ละคน (dtàae lá khon) |
| Ryan: This is just a phrase that means “each person” or “according to each person”. |
| Pim: The example from this conversation was... แต่ละคนเขาก็มีเหตุผลที่แตกต่างกันออกไป (dtàae lá khon khǎo gâaw mii hèet-phǒn thîi dtàaek-dtàang gan àawk bpai) |
| Ryan: “Each person has their own different reasons.” The next phrase is... |
| Pim: ทำอะไรกันอยู่ (tham à-rai gan yùu) |
| Ryan: This is a question that means “What are they doing?” ทำ (tham) is the verb “to do”, and อะไร (à-rai) is the question “What?” The next word, กัน (gan), means “together”. |
| Pim: So that means this is only a question that you’d use when the subject is plural. To ask about a singular subject you’d have to remove the word กัน (gan). That would give you ทำอะไรอยู่ (tham à-rai gan yùu) |
| Ryan: อยู่ (yùu) is the verb “to be located”. However, when อยู่ (yùu) follows another verb in the same sentence it has a different meaning doesn’t it? |
| Pim: That’s right. When อยู่ (yùu) follows another verb, it’s function is just grammatical. It indicates that the action is still happening. |
| Ryan: and we’ll talk about that a little more in the grammar section, but now onto the next phrase... |
| Pim: แล้ว...ล่ะ (láaeo ... lâ) |
| Ryan: This pattern is used to ask about a new subject in regard to information that was just given. The subject would be placed in the middle of the phrase, after แล้ว (láaeo) and before ล่ะ lâ. |
| Pim: You can use this for asking the same question back to the person who asked you. As in... แล้วคุณล่ะ (láaeo khun lâ) |
| Ryan: “And how about you” Or instead of “you” a third person could become the subject of the new question. As in... |
| Pim: แล้วคุณแม่ล่ะ (láaeo khun-mâae lâ.) |
| Ryan: “What about mother?” And the last phrase we’ll look at is... |
| Pim: พวกเขา (phûuak-khǎo) |
| Ryan: This is a plural pronoun that means “they” or “them”. |
| Pim: พวก (phûuak) means “a group”. It can be added to the beginning of many pronouns and nouns to make them plural. In this case เขา (khǎo) means “he” or “she”, so พวกเขา (phûuak-khǎo) means “they”. Another example is พวกนี้ (phûuak-níi) meaning “these”. It is the plural of นี้ (níi) meaning “this”. |
| Ryan: What about “we” or “us”? |
| Pim: We can use เรา (rao) to mean “we”, but เรา (rao) can also be used as a singular pronoun meaning “I”. So in cases where you want to make sure you are not misunderstood, you can use พวกเรา(phûuak rao), which is specifically the plural “we”. |
| Ryan: OK, now let’s move on to the grammar section. |
| Ryan: The focus of this lesson’s grammar is using กำลัง (gam-lang) and อยู่ (yùu) to make the present continuous tense. |
| Pim: Verbs in Thai never alter their form to make different tenses. Instead, we have to include additional words in the sentence to show different tenses. The present continuous tense can be shown by adding กำลัง (gam-lang) in front of the verb. |
| Ryan: So this just indicates that the action is in the middle of happening right now. How about we compare two similar sentences so you can get the idea. First, here is a sentence in the simple present tense... |
| Pim: เขาพูดภาษาไทย (khǎo phûut phaa-sǎa-thai.) |
| Ryan: “He speaks Thai.” Now let’s change it to be the present continuous tense... |
| Pim: เขากำลังพูดภาษาไทย (khǎo gam-lang phûut phaa-sǎa-thai.) |
| Ryan: “He’s speaking Thai.” |
| Pim: Earlier, we mentioned that the verb อยู่ (yùu) can also be used to show that an action is currently happening by placing it after the main verb in the sentence. For example, maybe I want to say that I’m doing my homework right now. |
| Ryan: I remember ทำ (tham) is the verb “to do”. But what is the word for “homework”? |
| Pim: การบ้าน (gaan-bâan) |
| Ryan: OK, so ทำการบ้าน (tham gaan-bâan)means “to do homework”. And we can make this present continuous just by adding อยู่ (yùu) after the verb and it’s object. |
| Pim: Right. So the whole sentence would be ดิฉันทำการบ้านอยู่ (dì-chăn tham gaan bâan yùu). |
| Ryan: “I’m doing homework.” But it’s still possible to say the same thing with กำลัง isn’t it? |
| Pim: Yes, of course ดิฉันทำการบ้านอยู่ (dì-chăn tham gaan-bâan yùu) and ดิฉันกำลังทำการบ้าน (dì-chăn gam-lang tham gaan-bâan) both mean the same thing. |
| Ryan: There’s no difference in the meaning? |
| Pim: Not really, but another thing that we can do is use both together. Then the sentence becomes ดิฉันกำลังทำการบ้านอยู่ (dì-chăn gam-lang tham gaan-bâan yùu). When กำลัง (gam-lang) is in front of the verb and อยู่ yùu is after the verb, it puts a little more emphasis on the fact that the event is still going on. |
| Ryan: I see. So that’s more like saying “I’m right in the middle of doing my homework.” |
| Pim: Exactly. |
| Ryan: How about we hear all three versions once again. Listeners please repeat after Khru Pim. |
| Pim: ดิฉันกำลังทำการบ้าน (dì-chăn gam-lang tham gaan-bâan) (pause) ดิฉันทำการบ้านอยู่ (dì-chăn tham gaan-bâan yùu) (pause) ดิฉันกำลังทำการบ้านอยู่ (dì-chăn gam-lang tham gaan-bâan yùu) |
| Ryan: Ok, That’s all for this lesson. |
| Pim: มีคำถามอะไรไหมคะ (mii kham-thăam a-rai mái khá) |
| Ryan: Do you have any questions? |
| Pim: If you do, please let us know in the comment section. แล้วพบกันใหม่ค่ะ (láaeo phóp gan mài khâ) |
| Ryan: See you next time. |
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