I can’t get this song out of my head. Now it’s your turn.
Lactasoy 5 บาท
125 มิลลิลิตร
ปริมาณ คับกล่อง
เต็มที ดื่มได้ ดื่มดี
เด็กๆ ก็ชอบ
ใครๆ ก็ชอบ
ดื่ม Lactasoy 5 บาท
ปริมาณ – amount; quantity (similar to จำนวน but is often used like “volume”)
คับกล่อง – (this works a lot like “filled to the brim” or “bursting”)
เต็มที – (do something) all out; to the max
เด็กๆ ก็ชอบ – kids dig it
ใครๆ ก็ชอบ – everybody digs it
I headed down to Bangkok last weekend to do a podcast with the dashing fellows from Bangkok Podcast, Greg and Tony. We had a good time and they had some พิซซ่า.
Check it out here.
I came up with this story the other day while making flashcards for one of my students. Mnemonics are great.
In order for this mnemonic to work properly, you should try to imagine the story in your mind. Pictures you make in your head are easier to remember than actual images.
To reinforce it you might make SRS cards to quiz you on the story. Ex – Q – What pets does the middle class kid keep? A ปลา ไก่ เต่า
There is a middle class kid (เด็ก) who likes to keep pets.
He has a fish (ปลา), a turtle (เต่า) and a chicken (ไก่).
Where does he keep these pets? In his basin (อ่าง) of course. (Actually try to imagine a big bucket with a chicken, a turtle and a fish swimming around inside it always bumping into each other)
He needs to feed the pets. They eat leaves (ใบ ไม้).
Also, he needs to make sure they don’t get out so he keeps a big plate (จาน) on top of the อ่าง.
Yes, I left out the other 2 as they aren’t vital when you first start reading. If you are solid on this story its easy to add in the other ones.
When I first wanted to know the word for “for” in Thai, my Lonely Planet Phrasebook said สำหรับ or samrap. While สำหรับ does mean “for,” in many cases, it is not the best answer.
Samrap you, samrap me?
There are 3 main ways to say “for” in Thai. Luckily, there is often some overlap with their English equivalents, but it may take a bit to get used to which word you’ll need to use in each situation. I’ll include some key examples in this post so you can get an idea which is which.
The first version of “for” that we will look at is “ สำหรับ” (sam-rap).
This version of “for” is often used when talking about what the purpose of a thing is or what it’s intended use is. Let’s look at the sentence “games for kids”. The “for” in this sentence essentially means “intended to be used by”. This is how the word สำหรับ (sam-rap) is used in Thai.
สำหรับ (sam-rap) + NOUN = for (use by/of)
สำหรับ can also be attached to a verb phrase. This is similar to how we would say a phrase like “a pen for ipad.” The “for” means something like “for the purpose of.”
The usage is just sap-rap สำหรับ + the verb:
สำหรับ (sam-rap) + VERB = “intended to used to do X”
Here are some more examples:
The next Thai version of “for” that we’re going to look at is the word เพื่อ (phuea). เพื่อ (phuea) means something like in order to; for the benefit of; for the purpose of someone or something. For example “to work for my family”. The “for” in this sentence means something like “for the benefit of”.
This word is used for all the organizations and foundations. School for the blind, for the people, etc.
เพื่อ (phuea) – for the benefit/purpose of someone/something; in order to
The third version of “for” that we will look at is เผื่อ (phuea). This can mean something similar to the English “in case of something” or “on behalf of”
In these examples, เผื่อ works like “in case.”
While in these very commonly used examples, เผื่อ functions as “on behalf of”
These are often used when you are telling someone you are going to do something…go eat, go out, go on a trip, etc and the person you are speaking to says this to mean something like “do it/one for me too!”
English example, you are heading out to the pub, but your friend is sick or has to stay home in work – they might say ‘Drink one for me!”
เผื่อ (phuea) –
Although the word เผื่อ (phuea) and เพื่อ (phuea) above share the same vowel and same initial consonant sound, they are spoken with a different tone. As Thai is a tonal language, this can change the meaning of a word. Click on the audio for both words again and pay attention to tones of each word. เพื่อ (phuea) is spoken with a falling tone – meaning the tone rises and then falls again, while the word เผื่อ (phuea) is spoken with a low tone.
These 2 words take different tones because of 2 factors: their initial consonant AND the tone mark.
While you need to know the 4 tone marks in order to determine the tone of a word or syllable in Thai, you ALSO need to know the CONSONANT CLASS of the word as each of the 3 classes has slightly different tone rules that you’ll need to master in order to learn to speak Thai fluently.
It does take a bit of work, but you can learn to read and speak Thai. Sign up below and we’ll send you some free lessons from our Learn Thai Inner Circle program.
ให้ (hai) is a very versatile word which has lots of different uses. Depending on the sentence it can mean: to give; to allow; to make someone do something; and it can also be used as the preposition, “for.” If this sounds intimidating, try to explain to a non-native English speaker what “get” means.
Even though there are lots of ways to say “for” in Thai, there are a number of sentences where “for” is not used.
Below are some situations where we use “for” in English but not in Thai.
Situation 1: When talking about how long something has been or will be done for.
Example sentences:
Even though in English we need to use the word “for” in these sentences, in Thai there is no equivalent version of “for” used.
Situation 2: When thanking someone or saying sorry for doing something.
Example sentences:
Once again, there is no version of “for” used in these Thai sentences.
We understand that trying to memorize all of this will be impossible for most people. Just bookmark this page and come back to reference it as needed. Whenever you run into a situation where you want to say something and you don’t know how, make a note somewhere and look it up, send us a message, or ask on a app like HiNative.
I recommend spending less time focusing on single words that and more on learning a bunch of super useful short sentences. Many very important sentences in Thai are just 2 or 3 words so as soon as you can start fumbling your way through easy words, I’d get started on these high frequency Thai phrases.
How do you learn these Thai sentences? First, you need to learn how to read the Thai script. Then choose a few of the sentences below and spend a bit of time practicing saying them aloud every day. If you are in Thailand, start with sentences you can find an excuse to use in real life that tends to have the highest chance of sticking. The order is arbitrary, but some of them will be more useful than others depending on your situation.
