Learn how to recognize an implied subject in Thai
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| Michael: Is it common to omit the subject in Thai sentences? |
| Arnon: And why? |
| Michael: At ThaiPod101.com, we hear these questions often. In the following situation, Kaewjai Kornkan is in a bookstore with her friend, Sasha Lee. She points to a book and says, |
| "[Do you] see that book?" |
| Kaewjai Kornkan: เห็นหนังสือนั่นไหม (hĕn năng-sǔue nân măi) |
| Dialogue |
| Kaewjai Kornkan: เห็นหนังสือนั่นไหม (hĕn năng-sǔue nân măi) |
| Sasha Lee: น่าสนใจไหม (nâa sŏn jai măi) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Kaewjai Kornkan: เห็นหนังสือนั่นไหม (hĕn năng-sǔue nân măi) |
| Michael: "[Do you] see that book?" |
| Sasha Lee: น่าสนใจไหม (nâa sŏn jai măi) |
| Michael: "Is [it] interesting?" |
Lesson focus |
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| Michael: Omitting the subject or the pronoun is possible in so-called "pro-drop languages." Pro-drop-languages are languages where omitting the pronoun, or the subject, doesn't affect the information conveyed by the sentence. This is not possible in the English language, but you can observe this in Romance and Slavic languages. In the Thai language, dropping the subject or pronoun in a sentence is also a common practice. |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: Let's take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Kaewjai says "[Do you] see that book?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Arnon as Kaewjai Kornkan: เห็นหนังสือนั่นไหม (hĕn năng-sǔue nân măi) |
| Michael: This is literally "See book that," since pronouns are usually placed after the noun in Thai grammar. However, this is properly rendered as "See that book." Based on the context, Kaewjai is addressing Sasha, and is asking her whether she is seeing the book he was referring to. In English grammar, the proper way to say this is "Do you see that book," which includes the pronoun "you." In Thai, it's normal for pronouns to be dropped if they can be worked out from the context. |
| [Recall 2] |
| Michael: Now, let's take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Sasha Lee says "Is [it] interesting?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Arnon as Sasha Lee: น่าสนใจไหม (nâa sŏn jai măi) |
| Michael: This literally means "Is interesting?" but is properly rendered as "Is it interesting?" This time, the pronoun for "it" was dropped from the sentence. Again, this is only possible if the missing word can be worked out from the context. In the previous example, the pronoun "you" was dropped, because it was clear from the context that Kaewjai was referring to Sasha. In this case, it's also obvious that Sasha was referring to the book, so there was no need for her to mention the pronoun for it. |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: We've learned in this lesson that Thai is a pro-drop language. This means that subjects and objects can be dropped in a sentence without the message losing its meaning. Let's take a look at some more sentences where the subject can be dropped. Here's the first one: |
| Arnon: คุณเหนื่อยไหม (khun nùueai mǎi) |
| Michael: literally "Are you tired?" We can drop the subject here, and we will get the sentence, |
| Arnon: เหนื่อยไหม (nùueai mǎi) |
| Michael: The subject "you" was dropped so we have only "Are tired?" left. Next, we have |
| Arnon: คุณอยากกินขนมด้วยกันไหม (khun yàak gin khà-nŏm dûuai gan măi) |
| Michael: meaning "Do you want to eat snacks together?" The subject "you" can also be dropped here, |
| Arnon: อยากกินขนมด้วยกันไหม (yàak gin khà-nŏm dûuai gan măi) |
| Michael: meaning "want to eat snacks together?" In addition, if it is obvious which snack is offered, even the object "snacks" can be dropped, |
| Arnon: อยากกินด้วยกันไหม (yàak gin dûuai gan măi) |
| Michael: which means "want to eat together?" In this case, both subject "you" and object "snacks" are dropped. |
| Expansion/Contrast |
| Michael: Like in many languages, the presence of the subject in a sentence is also not necessary in imperative sentences in Thai. If you're going to use the imperative sentence either for second person singular or second person plural, there is no need for you to add the subject because the sentence already implies it. For instance, if you want to tell someone to stop doing something, you can simply say, |
| Arnon: หยุดนะ (yùt ná) |
| Michael: or "Stop it." |
| Arnon: And if you want to politely ask someone to leave, you can say, |
| Arnon: กรุณาออกไป. (gà-rú-naa àawk bpai) |
| Michael: or "Please leave." In both instances, it's obvious that the message is directed to a second person, rendering the adding of the pronoun unnecessary. |
| Cultural Insight/Expansion |
| Michael: We learned that pronouns, or |
| Arnon: สรรพนาม (sàp-phá-naam) |
| Michael: are often omitted in Thai if they are clear to the listeners based on the context of the conversation. However, did you know that Thai has a complex system for personal pronouns? In Thai, personal pronouns may vary depending on the person being addressed in the conversation, your relationship to them, or whether they are older or younger than you. In the same manner, terms used for family or |
| Arnon: ครอบครัว (khrâawp-khruua) |
| Michael: are also used as pronouns in Thai. For this reason, it's not uncommon to address strangers in Thai as if they were also a member of the family. Moreover, Thai women would often use their nickname, or |
| Arnon: ชื่อเล่น (chûue lên) |
| Michael: instead of the appropriate first-person pronoun, so don't be surprised if you hear a Thai lady friend referring to herself in the third-person. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Arnon: แล้วพบกันใหม่เร็วๆนี้ครับ (láaeo-phóp-gan-mài reo-reo-níi khràp) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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