When you want to say you’re not in the mood to do something, you could say “ไม่ได้อยู่ในอารมณ์ที่จะ” [mâi dâai yùu nai aarom tîi jà], followed by the action you’re not in the mood to do, for example, “ฉันไม่ได้อยู่ในอารมณ์ที่จะคุยกับใคร” [chán mâi dâai yùu nai aarom tîi jà kui gáp khrai] I’m not in the mood to talk to anyone.…
Continue reading “I’m not in the mood.”Yuki & Miki @ PickupThai
There are two expressions in Thai that are equivalent of the English expression “it’s a matter of . . “, which are “มันเป็นเรื่องของ . .” [man pen reûang kŏng . . ], followed by a noun, and “มันเกี่ยวกับว่า . . ” [man kìaw kàp wâa . . ], followed by a clause.…
Continue reading “It’s a matter of ..”There are various Thai expressions that are equivalent to the English expression ” . . in vain” or ” . . for nothing”. It depends on the usage and the context. One expression is “เปล่าประโยชน์” [plào prá yòde], for example, อย่าใช้เวลาโดยเปล่าประโยชน์ [yàa chái welaa dooi plào prá yòde] “Don’t waste your time in vain”.…
Continue reading ” . . in vain”The first time, in Thai, is “ครั้งแรก” [kráng râek]. When you want to say you do something for the first time, in Thai we use the expression “…(เป็น)ครั้งแรก” […(pen) kráng râek]. For example, “ฉันเพิ่งมาที่นี่เป็นครั้งแรก” [chán peûng maa tîi nîi pen kráng râek.] “I just came here for the first time”. You can also say something like “นี่เป็นครั้งแรกที่ฉันมาที่นี่” [nîi pen kráng râek tîi chán maa tîi nîi.]…
Continue reading “. . for the first time”To say “I can’t wait to do something.”, in Thai, we use the expression “แทบจะรอ..ไม่ไหว” [tâb jà ror .. mâi wăi] and you might also add “แล้ว” (léaw) or “อยู่แล้ว” (yùu léaw) at the end to emphasize the impatience e.g. I can’t wait to see you ผมแทบจะรอพบคุณไม่ไหวอยู่แล้ว [phŏm tâb jà ror phóp khun mâi wăi yùu léaw] but if you want to say something like “I can’t wait until tomorrow” or some other time-related nouns like Sunday or next week, then you would need to say “แทบจะรอให้ถึง..ไม่ไหว”…
Continue reading “I can’t wait!”When you want to explain that something is not like how somebody thinks or correct somebody’s misunderstanding, in English you would say “it’s not that….” In Thai, to express the same idea, we use the expression “ไม่ใช่ว่า” [mâi châi wâa] e.g. ไม่ใช่ว่าฉันไม่อยากทำ ฉันแค่ยังไม่พร้อม [mâi châi wâa chán mâi yàak tam, chán kâe yang mâi próm] “It’s not that I don’t want to do it, I’m just not ready for it yet”.…
Continue reading “It’s not that..”When you want to say that’s why something is the way it is or that’s why something happened, in Thai you use the expression “ถึงได้” [teŭng dâi]. For example, “รู้อยู่แล้วว่าเธอต้องเสียใจเราถึงได้ไม่อยากบอก” [rúu yùu léaw wâa ter tông siă jai, rao teŭng dâi mâi yàak bòrk.] “I knew you would get sad, that’s why I didn’t want to tell you”.…
Continue reading “That’s Why!”For “to depend on something (n.) or someone (pron.)”, we say “ขึ้นอยู่กับ” [keûn yùu kàp] in Thai. For example, “ทุกอย่างขึ้นอยู่กับการตัดสินใจของเธอ” [túk yàang keûn yùu kàp kaan tàt sĭn jai kŏng ter] Everything depends on your decision. When it’s not just a noun or a pronoun, we use “ขึ้นอยู่กับว่า” [keûn yùu kàp wâa] e.g.…
Continue reading “It Depends.”When you want to express that you don’t care about something, you can say “ฉันไม่สน” [chán mâi sŏn] or “ฉันไม่แคร์” [chán mâi kae] which means “I don’t care”. You can also say “ช่างมัน” [chàng man] or “ช่างหัวมัน” [chàng hŭa man] which mean “whatever”, “let it be”. Literal meaning: ignore it, leave it.…
Continue reading “Who Cares?”One word that might still sound unfamiliar even to advanced learners is the word “กะ” [gà], which is an informal counterpart of the verb “ตั้งใจ” [tâng jai]. Thai learners are often taught to use “ตั้งใจ” [tâng jai] for “To plan/to intend to do something”, but in an informal spoken language, most of the time, we use “กะ” [gà].…
Continue reading กะ(ว่า)(จะ)… “gà (wâa)(jà)…”In colloquial Thai language, we use the expression “อย่าง .. หรือ .. อะไรแบบนี้” [yàang .. rěu .. arai bàep níi] when we want to list examples of things that belong to the same unofficial category.
“อย่าง” [yàang] in this context means “like” as a preposition or “for example” and “อะไรแบบนี้” [arai bàep níi] translates to “something like that.”…
Continue reading อย่าง .. หรือ .. อะไรแบบนี้ “yàang .. rěu .. arai bàep níi”“ไหนๆก็ [năi năi gâw] A, B” means since it is A, it would be better to do B. You can sometimes translate it as “might as well”. For example, “ไหนๆเขาก็ขอโทษแล้ว ก็ให้อภัยเขาเถอะ” [năi năi káo gâw kăw tôde léaw, gâw hâi apai káo tèr] “Since he has already apologized, you might as well forgive him”.…
Continue reading ไหนๆก็ “năi năi gâw”The sense of the expression “ไม่ถึงกับ” [mâi teǔng gàp] or “ไม่ถึงขนาด” [mâi teǔng kanàat] is similar to “not to the point where..” but in some cases, it could be best translated as “not exactly”, implying that something is not quite some way but close to being so. For examples: “เขาหน้าตาดีนะ แต่ไม่ถึงกับสวย” [káo nâataa dii ná tàe mâi teǔng gàp suăi] “She’s pretty good-looking but not exactly beautiful”.…
Continue reading ไม่ถึงกับ “mâi teǔng gàp”“ไม่เอา” is usually used when you want to refuse an offer or to say that you do not want something. However, if you add the particle “น่า”, of which the tone generally changes from falling [nâa] to low [nàa] when spoken, at the end of the phrase, it means something along the lines of “Come on!…
Continue reading ไม่เอาน่า “mâi ao nâa”The expression “ก็ว่าไปอย่าง” [kôr wâa pai yàng] is used to express that the consequence would be different, usually better or more understanding, if the situation was different from how it is in reality. The literal meaning is “then I would say differently”. For examples, แกไปชอบเขาทำไม ถ้านิสัยดีก็ว่าไปอย่าง แต่นี่… [gae pai chôrb káo tummai.…
Continue reading ก็ว่าไปอย่าง “kôr wâa pai yàng”