Learn about three important Thai demonstrative pronouns meaning "this," "that," and "that, over there"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Pim: Hi, my name is Pim, and I am joined here by Ryan. |
| Ryan: Hello, everyone and welcome back to ThaiPod101.com |
| Pim: What are we learning today? |
| Ryan: In this lesson you'll will learn how to talk about "this", "that", and "that, over there". |
| Pim: This conversation takes place at the airport in Chiang Mai, a city in northern Thailand. |
| Ryan: The conversation is between James, an exchange student from America, and his host family. |
| Pim: The speakers are meeting face to face for the first time, therefore they will be speaking polite Thai. |
| Ryan: |
| DIALOGUE |
| เจมส์ สวัสดีครับ คุณพ่อ คุณแม่ (sà-wàt-dii khráp khun phâaw khun mâae.) |
| คุณพ่อ สวัสดีครับคุณเจมส์ สบายดีไหมครับ (sà-wàt-dii khráp khun jeem. sà-baai dii mǎi khráp.) |
| เจมส์ สบายดีครับ แล้วคุณพ่อกับคุณแม่ล่ะครับ (sà-baai dii khráp. láaeo khun phâaw gàp khun mâae lâ khráp.) |
| คุณแม่ พวกเราก็สบายดีค่ะ (phûuak-rao gâaw sà-baai dii khâ.) |
| คุณพ่อ คุณเจมส์ นี่ณิชาลูกสาวของผมครับ (khun jeem nîi ní-chaa lûuk-sǎao khǎawng phǒm khráp.) |
| ณิชา สวัสดีค่ะ ยินดีที่ได้รู้จักค่ะ (sà-wàt-dii khâ. yin-dii thîi dâai rúu-jàk khâ.) |
| เจมส์ สวัสดีครับ ยินดีที่ได้รู้จักเช่นกันครับ (sà-wàt-dii khráp. yin-dii thîi dâai rúu-jàk chên gan khráp.) |
| ณิชา ช่วยถือกระเป๋าไหมคะ โอ๊ย...กระเป๋าใบนี้หนักมาก (chûuai thǔue grà-bpǎo mǎi khá. óoi... grà-bpǎo bai níi nàk mâak.) |
| เจมส์ ไม่เป็นไรครับ ผมถือเองได้ครับ รถอยู่ที่ไหนครับ (mâi bpen rai khráp. phǒm thǔue eeng dâai khráp. rót yùu thîi-nǎi khráp.) |
| คุณแม่ อ๋อ...รถอยู่ทางโน้น (ǎaw...rót yùu thaang nóon.) |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| เจมส์ สวัสดีครับ คุณพ่อ คุณแม่ (sà-wàt-dii khráp khun phâaw khun mâae.) |
| คุณพ่อ สวัสดีครับคุณเจมส์ สบายดีไหมครับ (sà-wàt-dii khráp khun jeem. sà-baai dii mǎi khráp.) |
| เจมส์ สบายดีครับ แล้วคุณพ่อกับคุณแม่ล่ะครับ (sà-baai dii khráp. láaeo khun phâaw gàp khun mâae lâ khráp.) |
| คุณแม่ พวกเราก็สบายดีค่ะ (phûuak-rao gâaw sà-baai dii khâ.) |
| คุณพ่อ คุณเจมส์ นี่ณิชาลูกสาวของผมครับ (khun jeem nîi ní-chaa lûuk-sǎao khǎawng phǒm khráp.) |
| ณิชา สวัสดีค่ะ ยินดีที่ได้รู้จักค่ะ (sà-wàt-dii khâ. yin-dii thîi dâai rúu-jàk khâ.) |
| เจมส์ สวัสดีครับ ยินดีที่ได้รู้จักเช่นกันครับ (sà-wàt-dii khráp. yin-dii thîi dâai rúu-jàk chên gan khráp.) |
| ณิชา ช่วยถือกระเป๋าไหมคะ โอ๊ย...กระเป๋าใบนี้หนักมาก (chûuai thǔue grà-bpǎo mǎi khá. óoi... grà-bpǎo bai níi nàk mâak.) |
| เจมส์ ไม่เป็นไรครับ ผมถือเองได้ครับ รถอยู่ที่ไหนครับ (mâi bpen rai khráp. phǒm thǔue eeng dâai khráp. rót yùu thîi-nǎi khráp.) |
| คุณแม่ อ๋อ...รถอยู่ทางโน้น (ǎaw...rót yùu thaang nóon.) |
| English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| เจมส์: สวัสดีครับ คุณพ่อ คุณแม่ (sà-wàt-dii khráp khun phâaw khun mâae.) |
| Ryan: Hello Father, Mother. |
| คุณพ่อ: สวัสดีครับคุณเจมส์ สบายดีไหมครับ (sà-wàt-dii khráp khun jeem. sà-baai dii mǎi khráp.) |
| Ryan: Hello James. How are you? |
| เจมส์: สบายดีครับ แล้วคุณพ่อกับคุณแม่ล่ะครับ (sà-baai dii khráp. láaeo khun phâaw gàp khun mâae lâ khráp.) |
| Ryan: I'm fine. And how are the two of you? |
| คุณแม่: พวกเราก็สบายดีค่ะ (phûuak-rao gâaw sà-baai dii khâ.) |
| Ryan: We're fine. |
| คุณพ่อ: คุณเจมส์ นี่ณิชาลูกสาวของผมครับ (khun jeem nîi ní-chaa lûuk-sǎao khǎawng phǒm khráp.) |
| Ryan: James, this is my daughter Nicha. |
| ณิชา: สวัสดีค่ะ ยินดีที่ได้รู้จักค่ะ (yin-dii thîi dâai rúu-jàk khâ.) |
| Ryan: Hello. Nice to meet you. |
| เจมส์: สวัสดีครับ ยินดีที่ได้รู้จักเช่นกันครับ (yin-dii thîi dâai rúu-jàk chên gan khráp.) |
| Ryan: Hello. Nice to meet you, too. |
| ณิชา: ช่วยถือกระเป๋าไหมคะ โอ๊ย...กระเป๋าใบนี้หนักมาก (chûuai thǔue grà-bpǎo mǎi khá. óoi... grà-bpǎo bai níi nàk mâak.) |
| Ryan: Shall I help carry your bags? Oh, this bag is so heavy! |
| เจมส์: ไม่เป็นไรครับ ผมถือเองได้ครับ รถอยู่ที่ไหนครับ (mâi bpen rai khráp. phǒm thǔue eeng dâai khráp. rót yùu thîi-nǎi khráp.) |
| Ryan: Don't worry about it. I can carry it myself. Where is the car? |
| คุณแม่ อ๋อ...รถอยู่ทางโน้น (ǎaw...rót yùu thaang nóon.) |
| Ryan: Uh...the car is way over there. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Ryan: Hey Pim I have a good question for you. |
| Pim: OK what is it? |
| Ryan: In this lesson’s conversation our new main character James says “khun phaaw” and “khun maae” when he’s addressing his new host parents. Now I know that “phaaw” means father and “maae” means mother, but why does he add “khun”? |
| Pim: It’s added to show more respect. |
| Ryan: Well, I know “khun” can mean either “you” or it can mean something like “Mr.” or “Ms.”. So in this case is it polite because he’s saying “you father” or is it polite because he’s saying “Mr. father”. |
| Pim: It’s closer to “Mr. father” in this case, but that sounds really odd in English. Actually “khun phaaw” and “khun maae” doesn’t sound so distant or formal in Thai. “khun phaaw” and “khun maae” can be said in a way that shows not just respect, but also love and admiration for ones parents. By the way, we don’t use these terms only for our own parents. We can call the parents of any friends or co-workers “khun phaaw” and “khun maae”, too. |
| Ryan: That’s pretty nice. Ok, now let’s move on to the vocabulary. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Ryan: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Pim: คุณพ่อ (khun phâaw) [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: father |
| Pim: คุณพ่อ [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Pim: คุณพ่อ [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Pim: คุณแม่ (khun mâae) [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: mother |
| Pim: คุณแม่ [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Pim: คุณแม่ [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Pim: ลูกสาว (lûuk-sǎao) [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: daughter |
| Pim: ลูกสาว [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Pim: ลูกสาว [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Pim: ถือ (thǔue) [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: to carry |
| Pim: ถือ [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Pim: ถือ [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Pim: กระเป๋า (grà-bpǎo) [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: bag |
| Pim: กระเป๋า [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Pim: กระเป๋า [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Pim: หนัก (nàk) [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: heavy |
| Pim: หนัก [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Pim: หนัก [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Pim: นี่ (nîi) [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: this |
| Pim: นี่ [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Pim: นี่ [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Pim: นี้ (níi) [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: this |
| Pim: นี้ [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Pim: นี้ [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Pim: ใบ (bai) [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: classifier for bags, hats, leaves, and slips of paper |
| Pim: ใบ [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Pim: ใบ [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Pim: ทางโน้น (thaang nóon) [natural native speed] |
| Ryan: that way over there |
| Pim: ทางโน้น [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Pim: ทางโน้น [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Ryan: Let's have a closer look at the usuage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Pim: กระเป๋าใบนี้ (grà-bpǎo bai níi) |
| Ryan: "This bag". In Thai, every noun needs to have a classifier not only when counting how many of something there are, but also when using the adjectives “this” and “that”. So, khru Pim, the word for “bag” is? |
| Pim: กระเป๋า (grà-bpǎo). |
| Ryan: And the classifier for the noun "bag" is? |
| Pim: ใบ (bai). |
| Ryan: So how do we say “this bag”? |
| Pim: กระเป๋าใบนี้ (grà-bpǎo bai níi). The adjective is directly connected to the classifier. And to say "that bag" you'd just use the adjective for "that", which is nán. |
| Ryan: So the whole phrase "that bag" would be? |
| Pim: grà-bpǎo bai nán. |
| Ryan And this same pattern works for other adjectives, too. So to say “the small bag” you’d say กระเป๋าใบเล็ก (grà-bpǎo bai lék). OK, now the next phrase we want to look at is... |
| Pim: ถือเองได้ (thǔue eeng dâai). |
| Ryan: The helping verb, ได้ dâai, can come after any verb or at the end of a statement to say that something is possible or that it can be done. In this case, ถือ (thǔue) is the verb “to carry”, and เอง eeng means “oneself”. So the meaning of the whole phrase is “I can carry it by myself”. Khru Pim, can we hear the phrase once again? |
| Pim: ถือเองได้ (thǔue eeng dâai). |
| And this pattern could be used with many other verbs. For example, the verb "to do" is ทำ (tham). So khun Ryan. How would you say "I can do it by myself"? |
| Ryan: ผมทำเองได้ (phǒm tham eeng dâi) |
| Pim: Very good! |
| Ryan: Now the last phrase we want to look at is... |
| Pim: ...อยู่ทางโน้น (...yùu thaang nóon) |
| Ryan: อยู่ (yùu) is the verb “to be located”. ทาง (thaang) means “way” or “path”, and โน้น (nóon) means “over there”. So the whole phrase means “It’s way over there” or “It’s over that way”. Khru Pim, what's the difference between อยู่ทางโน้น (yùu thaang nóon) and อยู่ทางนั้น (yùu thaang nán)? |
| Pim: นั้น (nán) means "that", but โน้น (nóon) means "that, way over there". It indicates a greater distance from the speaker than the word นั้น (nán). |
| Ryan: Ok, let's move on to the grammar section to focus on this point more closely. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Ryan: The focus of this lesson is “This”, “that”, and “that, over there”. Thai has a set of three demonstrative pronouns and a matching set of adjectives which are based upon the relative distance from the speaker of the object one is referring to. What are the three pronouns khru Pim? |
| Pim: The pronouns are นี่ nîi (“this”), นั่น nân (“that”), and โน่น nôon (“that over there”). |
| Ryan: Notice that they all use the falling tone, nîi, nân, nôon. The adjectives that correspond to these three differ only in their tone, which is high. So what are the, khru Pim? |
| Pim: ...นี้ ...níi (“this...”), ...นั้น ...nán (“that...”), and ...โน้น ...nóon (“that...over there”). |
| Ryan: Were you able to catch the high tone in the three adjectives? The important point to remember is that the pronouns with falling tones can stand by themselves in a sentence, just as you might say "What's this?" or "I don't like that." But the adjectives need to follow a noun, just as you'd say "What flavor is this?" or "I don't like that song". Let’s look at some examples. Kru Pim, how do you say “What’s this?” |
| Pim: นี่อะไร (nîi à-rai) |
| Ryan: So here, nîi with a falling tone is the pronoun "this". It stands alone and is followed by the question word à-rai, which means "what". Now how about a sentence using the adjective form of "this"? |
| Pim: อันนี้คืออะไร (an níi khuue à-rai). |
| Ryan: “What is this thing?” |
| Pim: อัน (an) is the classifier for a "thing". It acts as a noun to which the adjective นี้ (nîi) is added, making อันนี้ (an níi)... |
| Ryan: "this thing". So if I'm holding something in my hand, and I don't know the name of it, there are two ways I could use to ask. I could say "What's this called?" |
| Pim: นี่เรียกว่าอะไร (nîi rîiak wâa à-rai) |
| Ryan: Or I could ask "What's this thing called?" |
| Pim: อันนี่เรียกว่าอะไร |
| Now let's do an example using "that". The word for "who" is ใคร. So how would you say “Who’s that?” |
| Ryan: Is it นั่นใคร ? |
| Pim: That's right. Now we know that the classifier for "person" is คน. So how would you say “Who is that person?” |
| Ryan: Is it คนนั้นเป็นใคร khon nán bpen khrai? |
| Pim: Perfect! |
| Ryan: Ok listeners. Please repeat after khru Pim. “Who’s that?” |
| Pim: นั่นใคร |
| Ryan “Who is that person?” |
| Pim: คนนั้นเป็นใคร |
| Ryan: What if I saw someone way down at the end of the street and I wanted to ask "Who's that person way over there?" |
| Pim: Easy. You'd just change nán to nóon and say คนโน้นเป็นใคร |
| There's one more important thing I'd like to tell you about. We use the pronouns nîi, nân, and nôon along with the preposition thîi, which means "at" to form the words "here", there", and "over there". |
| Ryan: Ok, let me see if I got this straight. To say "here" you basically use a compound word that literally means "at-this". |
| Pim: Right. ที่นี่ (tîi-nîi) means "here". So likewise ที่นั่น should mean? |
| Ryan: "there" |
| Pim: And ที่โน่น means? |
| Ryan: "Over there." |
| Pim: And one final point. Sometimes we can indicate a great distance by the tone of our voice. Can you guess what I mean by ที่โน่นนนนน |
| Ryan: Way down there over yonder! |
Outro |
| Ryan: That just about does it for today. |
| Pim: Listeners, have you ever dreamed of starring in one of our lessons? |
| Ryan: If your answer is yes, use the voice-recording-tool on the lessons page! |
| Pim: Record your voice with a click of a button, |
| Ryan: ...and then play it back just as easily. |
| Pim: Then, compare it to the native speakers in the lesson... |
| Ryan: ...and adjust your pronunciation! |
| Pim: After a few tries, you'll be speaking better Thai than Ryan here! |
| Ryan: Hey! |
| Pim: Go to ThaiPod101.com, and rapidly improve your Thai pronunciation! |
| Ryan: See you next time! |
| Pim: แล้วพบกันใหม่ค่ะ (láaeo phóp gan mài khâ) |
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