Tag: Thai vocabulary

Love

heart

sà-wàd-dee kà

Do you know how to say “I love you” in Thai?

Because the Valentine ’s Day is coming, let’s talk about how to express your appreciation and your love to others. Actually, there are many nice terms to say that you are happy to be with someone in Thai language.

ถูกชะตา /tòog-chà-dtaa/ = to click, to hit it off

  • ฉัน/ผม ถูกชะตา กับ คุณ มาก
  • chán/pŏm tòog-chà-dtaa gàb kun mâag
  • I really clicked with you.

We usually use this expression when we meet someone new. ถูกชะตา /tòog-chà-dtaa/ is a feeling when you get along with that person very well even if you are not so close to each other.

ปลื้ม /bplêum/ = to admire, to be in awe of

  • เขา ปลื้ม Kendall มา นาน แล้ว
  • káo bplêum Kendall maa naan láew
  • He has admired Kendall for a long time.

Normally, if you use this word with a celebrity such as a superstar, an author, a sport athlete, etc, it means that you are a big fan. If we use this word with someone who you know in person, it means that you have a crush on him/her.

ชื่นชม /chêun-chom/ = to admire

  • ฉัน/ผม ชื่นชม คุณ มาก
  • chán/pŏm chêun-chom  kun mâag
  • I admire you very much.

This word seems similar with ปลื้ม /bplêum/ but they are not the same. ปลื้ม /bplêum/ is usually used by teenagers or young adults. You might ปลื้ม /bplêum/ someone without any reasons. When we say that we ชื่นชม /chêun-chom/ someone, it refers to his/her attribute or characteristic. What’s more, we hardly use this word to imply anything in romantic way. All in all, this word sounds more sophisticated and formal than ปลื้ม /bplêum/.

รัก /rág/ = to love

  • ฉัน/ผม รัก คุณ
  • chán/pŏm rág kun
  • I love you.

Although I can’t explain much about love because “love is like ghosts”, I don’t think that we can complete this article without this sentence. lol

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Do you know all definitions of บาง /bāang/?

Do you know all definitions of บาง /bāang/?

If you speak Thai, I’m pretty certain that you know this word บาง /bāang/ at least you might know it as a part of a word “Bangkok” in English or บางกอก in Thai, บางครั้ง /bāang-kráng/, meaning ‘sometimes’, or บางคน /bāang-kōn/, meaning ‘some people’.

Actually, this word has many meanings but we can talk about the most common one first.

บาง /bāang/ (Det.) some

We don’t use บาง /bāang/ alone for this meaning. The structure of this word is

Noun + บาง /bāang/ + Classifier

We can omit noun before บาง /bāang/ if that noun and its classifier are exactly the same or if we do know which noun we are talking about. However, it’s impossible to use this word without a classifier.

For example: คน /kōn/ can be a noun meaning a person or people. It’s also a classifier for any nouns referring to human beings in general. In this case, we don’t have to say it twice as คนบางคน /kōn- bāang-kōn/. That’s why you might hear people say บางคน /bāang-kōn/.

  • บางคน ไม่ กิน เผ็ด
  • /bāang-kōn mâi gīn pèd/
  • Some people don’t eat spicy (food).

Anyway, if you would like to say “Some Thai people don’t eat spicy (food)”, you can’t omit noun anymore.

  • คนไทย บางคน ไม่ กิน เผ็ด
  • /kōn Thai bāang-kōn mâi gīn pèd/

บาง /bāang/ (Adj.) thin

We can also use this word to modify nouns. In this sense, its opposite word is ‘หนา’ /năa/, meaning ‘thick’.

  • สมุด เล่ม นี้ บาง มาก
  • /sà-mùd lêm née bāang mâag/
  • This notebook is very thin.

บาง /bāang/ (N.) a small stream

Have you ever wonder why there are so many areas in Thailand which started their names with a word ‘บาง’ /bāang/? Even the name บางกอก /bāang-gòrg/, AKA Bangkok. If this word means only ‘some’ or ‘thin’, it sounds strange, right?

Actually, in the past, we called a small stream ‘บาง’ /bāang/. People couldn’t live without water. In the time when there was no water pipe, it made more sense to live close to a river or a stream. That’s how people named the areas.