AB Level 1.1: Greetings, Requesting and Trips in Thai

Greeting Someone with Perfect Thai

• Asking about Someone's Well-being
  • สบายดี (sà-baai-dii) literally means "comfortable" or "good."
  • By adding the question particle, ไหม (mǎi), it becomes a question.
  • สบายดีไหม (sà-baai-dii mǎi), meaning "Are you well?"
  • When the subject is understood, we can leave it out of the sentence.
  • We can offer a positive answer by repeating the verb or adjective: in this case, สบายดี (sà-baai-dii).
• Question Word
  • ไหม (mǎi) is a particle we put at the end of a statement to turn it into a question.
  • We often best translate it in English simply as a question mark.

How to Greet Someone in Thai

• Thai people commonly use the word สวัสดี (sà-wàt-dii) as a greeting, which has both "hello" and "good-bye" meanings and originates from the Sanskrit word for "auspiciousness."
• To show politeness in Thai language, it's important to use certain words at the end of a sentence, which depends on the speaker's gender.
• For example, male speakers should use ครับ (khráp) with a high tone, while female speakers should use ค่ะ (khâ) with a falling tone when making statements and คะ (khá) with a high tone when asking a question.

Safe Trip to Thailand!

• Thai verbs don't conjugate!
• Thai grammar is much easier to learn than the grammar of other languages.
  • The forms of the words never change.
  • You don't have to learn any charts to change verbs into the past, future, present continuous, etc.
  • Instead, Thai changes the meaning by adding other words to the sentence.
• We put the word จะ (jà), meaning "will," before verbs to make them future tense.
  • ผมไป (phǒm bpai) is "I go," but ผมจะไป (phǒm jà bpai) is "I will go."
  • คุณทำงาน (khun tham-ngaan) is "you work," but คุณจะทำงาน (khun jà tham-ngaan) is "you will work."
• The verb "to be" is เป็น (bpen).
• To say one's nationality, we use the word คน (khon), meaning "person" + the name of the country (with a few exceptions).
  • ดิฉันเป็นคนไทย (dì-chǎn bpen khon-thai) ➤ "I am Thai,"
  • คนอเมริกัน (khon-à-mee-rí-gan) | คนอเมริกา (khon-à-mee-rí-gaa) ➤ “American”

Vocabulary & Phrases

• <<ไป…ที่… (bpai…thîi…)<<

  • ไป (bpai) means "to go"
  • ที่ (thîi) means "at."
  • We can use them together, with an action between them and a location following, to say "go to do (action) at (location)."

• <<ประเทศ (bprà-thêet) + [name of country]<<

  • We usually place ประเทศ (bprà-thêet), meaning "country," before the name of the country to specify a nation.
  • We usually use the name of a country by itself as an adjective, as in "Thai food," "Thai music," "Thai people," etc.

• <<ไปติดต่อธุรกิจ (bpai dtìt-dtàaw thú-rá-gìt)<<

  • Means "to go on a business trip."
  • ไป (bpai) means "to go"
  • ติดต่อธุรกิจ (dtìt-dtàaw thú-rá-gìt) means “to deal business.“

• <<เดินทางปลอดภัย (dooen-thaang bplàawt-phai)<<

  • Means "have a safe trip."
  • เดินทาง (dooen-thaang) means “to go on a trip“
  • ปลอดภัย (bplàawt-phai) means “safe, safely, or harmless.”

• <<แล้วคุณล่ะ (láaeo khun lâ)<<

  • This phrase means "And you?" or "How about you?"
  • We can use this phrase any time you want to ask the same question back.

• <<ที่ไหน (thîi-nǎi)<<

  • This means "where?"
  • It is a question word that usually comes at the end of a sentence.

Thai Teachers

• In Thai society, teachers are held in high regard and are usually addressed by their titles along with their names.
• Two common titles used for teachers are ครู (khruu) and อาจารย์ (aa-jaan), with khruu being used for elementary and primary school teachers, while aa-jaan is reserved for university professors and highly respected monks.
• When conversing with strangers, Thais often ask about their hometown, which is considered a common topic of conversation.
• However, other questions that may be asked, such as age, marital status, and education level, may be viewed as intrusive or impolite by Westerners.
• Age is particularly important in determining the relative levels of respect between speakers and the appropriate relational pronouns or titles to use.
• In Thai language, people are commonly referred to by relationship words such as "aunt," "granny," and "younger brother," regardless of their actual relationship.

Making Polite Requests

• To make a polite request, you can use the pattern ช่วย…ได้ไหม (chûuai…dâai mǎi).
  • ช่วย (chûuai) is a verb that means "to help."
  • ได้ (dâai) is an auxiliary verb that means "to be able to"/"to be possible."
  • With the question particle ไหม (mǎi), the sentence literally becomes "Can you help me with…?"
  • But actually, we often use the verb "to help" at the beginning of a request.
  • The real meaning is closer to "Could you please…?"

Vocabulary & Phrases

• <<ยินดีที่ได้รู้จัก (yin-dii thîi dâai rúu-jàk)<<

  • This means “Nice to meet you.”
  • You would only use it when meeting someone for the first time.

• <<เช่นกัน (chên-gan)<<

  • Means “likewise“ or “me, too.“
  • This is a standard reply to "nice to meet you."

• <<ขอโทษ (khǎaw-thôot)<<

  • We can use this as "sorry" to apologize or as "excuse me" to get someone's attention.

• <<ช้าๆ (cháa-cháa)<<

  • ช้า (cháa) is an adjective that means "slow."
  • When it is doubled, it becomes an adverb that means "slowly."

• <<นะ (ná)<<

  • This is a particle that we add to soften a sentence.
  • It makes the speech sound less abrupt and more gentle to the ears.

• <<ช่วย…ได้ไหม (chûuai…dâai mǎi)<<

  • This means "Could you please…?"

Respecting in Thai Culture

• Thai has various ways of showing respect
  • Pronouns can be used to indicate politeness and social status
  • Different words can be used for different levels of formality and respect
  • Certain words are reserved for royalty and Buddhist monks
• First-time meetings should use polite personal pronouns (ผม for males, ดิฉัน for females)
  • คุณ (khun), meaning “you“ can be used in most situations, but ท่าน (thâan) is more formal for official announcements or highly respected individuals
• ไหว้ (wâai) should be performed when greeting someone senior to oneself, involving placing palms together and raising them towards the face while bowing the head
  • The height of the hands in ไหว้ (wâai) indicates the level of respect
  • When greeting someone of the same or lower status, a simple smile and สวัดดี (sà-wàt-dii) is appropriate
• Sentences should be ended politely with ครับ (khráp) for males or ค่ะ (khâ) for females, especially in first-time conversations.