Learn how to use เมื่อก่อน and เมื่อกี้ to talk about different levels of the past
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Jing: สวัสดีค่ะ sà-wàt-dii khâ. I’m Jing, and welcome back to ThaiPod101.com. |
| Ohm: Ohm here! This is Intermediate Season 1 , Lesson 16 - The Thai Chili That Isn't a Chili. In this lesson, you'll learn about using เมื่อก่อน and เมื่อกี้ to talk about different levels of the past. |
| Jing: This conversation takes place at a coffee shop. |
| Ohm: The conversation is between a young couple, Pim and Gong. |
| Jing: Since they’re a couple, they’ll be using informal Thai. |
| Ohm: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| ก้อง: เมื่อกี้ตอนพิมถ่ายรูปเค้ก ทำให้พี่อยากรู้ว่า ก่อนพวกเราจะมีกล้องบนมือถือ เขาทำอะไรก่อนกิน (mûuea-gîi dtâwn phim thàai rûup khéek tham hâi phîi yàak rúu wâa. gàawn phûuak-rao jà mii glâwng bon muue-thǔue khǎo tham à-rai gàawn gin.) |
| พิม: เขาอาจจะนั่งวาดภาพไว้โชว์เพื่อนล่ะมั้ง (khǎo àat-jà nâng wâat phâap wái choo phûean lâ máng.) |
| ก้อง: คิดได้ยังงัย ฮ่า ฮ่า พี่ก็คิดว่าชาวบ้านสมัยอยุธยาจะพูดว่า หยุดห้ามกิน ยังไม่ได้วาดรูปน้ำพริกเลย เหมือนที่น้องพิมห้ามไม่ให้พี่กินเค้กเพราะยังไม่ได้ถ่ายรูป (khít dâai yang ngai. hâa hâa. phîi gâaw khít wâa chaa0-bâan sà-mǎi à-yút-thá-yaa jà phûut wâa. yùt hâam gin. yang mâi dâi wâat rûup náam-phrík looei. mǔuean thîi náawng phim hâam mâi hâi phîi gin khéek phráw yang mâi dâi thàai rûup.) |
| พิม: เออพิมสงสัยมานานแล้วล่ะ ว่าทำไมถึงเรียกพริกไทยว่า พริกไทย จริงๆ เราก็ใช้พริกอย่างอื่นมากกว่าพริกไทย (ooe rûueang phrík nîia. phim sǒng-sǎi maa naan láaeo lâ wâa tham-mai thǔeng rîiak phrík-thai wâa phrík-thai. jing-jing rao gâaw chái phrík yàang ùuen mâak gwàa phrík-thai.) |
| ก้อง: จริงๆ พริกมาจากอเมริกาใต้ เมื่อก่อนในไทยมีแต่พริกไทย (jing-jing phrík maa jàak à-mee-rí-gaa dtâi. mûuea-gàawn nai thai mii dtàae phrík-thai.) |
| พิม: อ๋อเข้าใจแล้ว (ǎaw khâo-jai láaeo.) |
| Ohm: Now let's hear it with the English translation. |
| ก้อง: เมื่อกี้ตอนพิมถ่ายรูปเค้ก ทำให้พี่อยากรู้ว่า ก่อนพวกเราจะมีกล้องบนมือถือ เขาทำอะไรก่อนกิน (mûuea-gîi dtâwn phim thàai rûup khéek tham hâi phîi yàak rúu wâa. gàawn phûuak-rao jà mii glâwng bon muue-thǔue khǎo tham à-rai gàawn gin.) |
| Gong: Just before, you took a photo of the cake. It makes me wonder, before we had mobile phone cameras, what did people do before they ate? |
| พิม: เขาอาจจะนั่งวาดภาพไว้โชว์เพื่อนล่ะมั้ง (khǎo àat-jà nâng wâat phâap wái choo phûean lâ máng.) |
| Pim: Maybe they sat and drew pictures to show to their friends. |
| ก้อง: คิดได้ยังงัย ฮ่า ฮ่า พี่ก็คิดว่าชาวบ้านสมัยอยุธยาจะพูดว่า หยุดห้ามกิน ยังไม่ได้วาดรูปน้ำพริกเลย เหมือนที่น้องพิมห้ามไม่ให้พี่กินเค้กเพราะยังไม่ได้ถ่ายรูป (khít dâai yang ngai. hâa hâa. phîi gâaw khít wâa chaa0-bâan sà-mǎi à-yút-thá-yaa jà phûut wâa. yùt hâam gin. yang mâi dâi wâat rûup náam-phrík looei. mǔuean thîi náawng phim hâam mâi hâi phîi gin khéek phráw yang mâi dâi thàai rûup.) |
| Gong: How did you think of that? Haha. I can just imagine villagers in the Ayutthaya era saying “Stop, don’t eat. I didn’t paint a picture of the chili dip yet”, just like how you didn’t let me eat the coconut cake before taking a photo of it. |
| พิม: เออพิมสงสัยมานานแล้วล่ะ ว่าทำไมถึงเรียกพริกไทยว่า พริกไทย จริงๆ เราก็ใช้พริกอย่างอื่นมากกว่าพริกไทย (ooe rûueang phrík nîia. phim sǒng-sǎi maa naan láaeo lâ wâa tham-mai thǔeng rîiak phrík-thai wâa phrík-thai. jing-jing rao gâaw chái phrík yàang ùuen mâak gwàa phrík-thai.) |
| Pim: Umm...I’ve wondered for a long time, why is black pepper called “Thai chili”. Actually we use other kinds of chili peppers more than black pepper. |
| ก้อง: จริงๆ พริกมาจากอเมริกาใต้ เมื่อก่อนในไทยมีแต่พริกไทย (jing-jing phrík maa jàak à-mee-rí-gaa dtâi. mûuea-gàawn nai thai mii dtàae phrík-thai.) |
| Gong: Chilies really come from South America. Before that we only had black pepper in Thailand. |
| พิม: อ๋อเข้าใจแล้ว (ǎaw khâo-jai láaeo.) |
| Pim: Oh, I get it. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Ohm: Hey Khru Jing, isn’t it strange to think about Thai cuisine before it had chilies? |
| Jing: Yeah, there are so many dishes that use chili peppers. |
| Ohm: I can’t imagine they just used black pepper in every dish back then. I think that would be boring. |
| Jing: I don’t think they had to use only pepper. There are lots of herbs that can add flavor. |
| Ohm: Such as...? |
| Jing: Such as กะเพรา gà-phrao, also known as “holy basil”. It can add a lot of spice to dishes. |
| Ohm: I see. |
| Jing: But you know, one of Thailand’s most famous dishes isn’t even spicy. |
| Ohm: What’s that? |
| Jing: Pad Thai. You know, the Thai-style fried noodles you can get at any Thai restaurant around the world. |
| Ohm: Hey, you’re right. Pad Thai isn’t spicy unless you add dried chili flakes. I’ll have to remember that the next time someone tells me Thai food is too spicy for them to eat. Alright, now let’s take a look at the vocabulary. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Ohm: The first word we shall see is... |
| Pim: เมื่อกี้ mûuea-gîi [natural native speed] |
| Ohm: a moment ago |
| Pim: เมื่อกี้ mûuea-gîi [slowly - broken down by syllable] เมื่อกี้ mûuea-gîi [natural native speed] |
| Ohm: Next |
| Pim: ถ่ายรูป thàai-rûup [natural native speed] |
| Ohm: to take a picture |
| Pim: ถ่ายรูป thàai-rûup [slowly - broken down by syllable] ถ่ายรูป thàai-rûup [natural native speed] |
| Ohm: Next |
| Pim: กล้อง glâwng [natural native speed] |
| Ohm: camera |
| Pim: กล้อง glâwng [slowly - broken down by syllable] กล้อง glâwng [natural native speed] |
| Ohm: Next |
| Pim: มือถือ muue-thǔue [natural native speed] |
| Ohm: cell phone |
| Pim: มือถือ muue-thǔue [slowly - broken down by syllable] มือถือ muue-thǔue [natural native speed] |
| Ohm: Next |
| Pim: วาดภาพ wâat-phâap [natural native speed] |
| Ohm: to draw a picture |
| Pim: วาดภาพ wâat-phâap [slowly - broken down by syllable] วาดภาพ wâat-phâap [natural native speed] |
| Ohm: Next |
| Pim: ชาวบ้าน chaao-bâan [natural native speed] |
| Ohm: villager |
| Pim: ชาวบ้าน chaao-bâan [slowly - broken down by syllable] ชาวบ้าน chaao-bâan [natural native speed] |
| Ohm: Next |
| Pim: สมัยอยุธยา sà-mǎi à-yú-thá-yaa [natural native speed] |
| Ohm: the Ayutthaya Period |
| Pim: สมัยอยุธยา sà-mǎi à-yú-thá-yaa [slowly - broken down by syllable] สมัยอยุธยา sà-mǎi à-yú-thá-yaa [natural native speed] |
| Ohm: Next |
| Pim: น้ำพริก nám-phrík [natural native speed] |
| Ohm: chili paste |
| Pim: น้ำพริก nám-phrík [slowly - broken down by syllable] น้ำพริก nám-phrík [natural native speed] |
| Ohm: Next |
| Pim: สงสัย sǒng-sǎi [natural native speed] |
| Ohm: to wonder, to suspect |
| Pim: สงสัย sǒng-sǎi [slowly - broken down by syllable] สงสัย sǒng-sǎi [natural native speed] |
| Ohm: And last... |
| Pim: พริกไทย phrík-thai [natural native speed] |
| Ohm: pepper, peppercorn |
| Pim: พริกไทย phrík-thai [slowly - broken down by syllable] พริกไทย phrík-thai [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Ohm: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase we’ll look at is |
| Jing: ล่ะมั้ง lâ máng |
| Ohm: This phrase means “perhaps”. |
| Jing: Yes, that’s right. ล่ะมั้ง lâ máng can go at the end of a sentence to show that the speaker thinks something might be true. |
| Ohm: So would you say adding ล่ะมั้ง lâ máng to a sentence indicates a level of uncertainty? |
| Jing: Exactly. ล่ะมั้ง lâ máng tells the listener that the statement is “maybe” or “perhaps” true. |
| Ohm: Alright, what’s the next phrase? |
| Jing: คิดได้ยังไง khít dâai yang-ngai |
| Ohm: This phrase means “How can you think of that?” |
| Jing: That’s right. คิด khít is the verb “to think”, and ได้ dâai is a helping verb meaning “can do”. Then the last part, ยังไง yang-ngai, means “how”. |
| Ohm: So the whole thing means “How can you think of that?” or “How did you come up with that?” |
| Jing: Right. You can say คิดได้ยังไง khít dâai yang-ngai when you are very surprised by someone’s imagination. |
| Ohm: And finally, what’s the last phrase? |
| Jing: สงสัย...ว่า sǒng-sǎi...wâ |
| Ohm: This is a phrase used to show that you are “wondering about” or “suspecting” something. |
| Jing: สงสัย is a verb meaning “to wonder” or “to suspect”. And ว่า wâa is a connecting word used like “that” in English. |
| Ohm: So you’d follow สงสัยว่า sǒng-sǎi wâ with some statement that you’re wondering about, or suspicious of. Then it’s similar in meaning to “I suspect that...” or “I’m wondering if it’s the case that...”. |
| Jing Yes, exactly. |
| Ohm: OK, now let’s move on to the grammar section. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Ohm: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use เมื่อก่อน mûuea-gàawn and เมื่อกี้ mûuea-gîi to talk about different levels of the past. |
| Jing: In Thai, we don’t change verbs to show different tenses such as the past or future. |
| Ohm: So how can you show what tense is being used? |
| Jing: Well, we add other words to the sentence that indicate when something happened. |
| Ohm: OK, so these two phrases, เมื่อก่อน mûuea-gàawn and เมื่อกี้ mûuea-gîi show that something took place in the past, right? |
| Jing: That’s right. |
| Ohm: Well then, what’s the difference between the two? |
| Jing: The difference is that เมื่อก่อน mûuea-gàawn shows something happened in the more distant past, while เมื่อกี้ mûuea-gîi shows something happened very recently. |
| Ohm: How recently? |
| Jing: Definitely the same day. เมื่อกี้ mûuea-gîi should be used for things that just happened, not more than a few hours ago at most. |
| Ohm: OK, how did we hear these used in a sentence? |
| Jing: We had the sentence...เมื่อก่อนในไทยมีแต่พริกไทย |
| mûuea-gàawn nai thai mii dtàae phrík-thai. |
| Ohm: “In the old times, we only had black pepper in Thailand.” So in this case, เมื่อก่อน mûuea-gàawn means it happened a long time ago. How about a sentence using เมื่อกี้ mûuea-gîi... |
| Jing: There was this line... เมื่อกี้ตอนพิมถ่ายรูปเค้ก... |
| mûuea-gîi dtaawn phim thàai rûup khéek... |
| Ohm: “Just before when you took a picture of the cake...” So in this sentence, เมื่อกี้ mûuea-gîi means “just a moment ago”. |
| Jing: Right. That’s the most common meaning. Sometimes when we say เมื่อกี้ mûuea-gîi, the time can be a little flexible, but not more than a couple hours ago. |
| Ohm: So then that would be like saying “just before”. |
| Jing: Yes, something like that. Oh, I should also tell you that there’s another way to pronounce เมื่อกี้ mûuea-gîi. We often say it with a high tone like เมื่อกี๊ mûuea-gíi. |
| Ohm: I see. But the meaning is the same? |
| Jing: Yes, it’s the same. |
| Ohm: OK, so how about we hear that last phrase with the version using a high tone. |
| Jing: Sure... เมื่อกี๊ตอนพิมถ่ายรูปเค้ก... |
| mûuea-gíi dtawn phim thàai rûup khéek... |
| Ohm: “Just before when you took a picture of the cake...” |
Outro |
|---|
| Ohm: Alright. That’s it for this lesson. Thanks for listening, everyone! |
| Jing: แล้วเจอกันใหม่ láaeo jooe gan mài |
| Ohm: Bye! |
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