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Point II : A new use for pen

You have previously learned pen in the meaning 'to be, become.' In the examples blow it has some new meanings which are shown in bold face letters in the translation.

kha4w ha1n nf2a chi2n le2kle2k

เขาหั่นเนื้อเป็นชิ้นเล็กๆ

'They cut the meat into small pieces'

(lit., 'to become small pieces').

kha4w ta2t pho4m pen ?aachi3ip

เขาตัดผมเป็นอาชีพ

'He cuts hair for a living'

(lit., 'to be a living').

kha4w ra2ppra1thaan kha1y to3m ka1p kha1no4mpaN pen ?aaha4ncha2aw

เขารับประทานไข่ต้มกับขนมปัง เป็นอาหารเช้า

'He ate boiled eggs and bread for breakfast' or 'as [his] breakfast'

(lit. 'to be [his] breakfast')

Point III : A new use for tE1E

In an earlier unit you learned this word in the meaning 'but.' In the examples below a new meaning is shown in boldface in the translation:

kha4w cha2y tE1E chO2On lE2? sO3Om tha3wna2n

เขาใช้แต่ช้อนและส้อมเท่านั้น

'They use nothing but spoons and forks, that's all' or 'They don't use anything but spoons and forks, that's all.'

kha4w kin tE1E ?aaha4an ?a2meri2kan.

เขากินแต่อาหารอเมริกัน

'He eats nothing but American food' or 'He eats only American food.'

pho4m pho2p tE1E khun sa1wa1t

ผมพบแต่คุณสวัสดิ์

'I met no one but sa1wa1t' or 'I met only sa1wa1t.'

When it is used in this way the meaning of tE1E is similar to that of tha3wna2n and tha3wna2n is indeed frequently used in the same sentence with tE1E. (see the first example above). However, tE1E is a more forceful word than tha3wna2n, much as 'nothing but' in English is more forceful than 'only.'

Point IV : The word phe3N

In word means 'just, just now,' as in the following examples:

pho4m phe4N maa thf4N thi3ini3i

ผมเพิ่งมาถึงที่นี่

'I just got here' or 'I just now got here.'

pho4m phe4N lu2k khf4n

ผมเพิ่งลุกขึ้น

'I just now got up.'

kha4w phe4N tham Naan se2t

เขาเพิ่งทำงานเสร็จ

'He just finished work.'

In English we often use the word 'just' in place of 'just now,' as is shown above. Therefore, you should note carefully that phe4N means just only in the sense of just now. It has nothing to do with the idea expressed by tha3wna2n 'just, only; that, that's all,' as in pho4m tO3Nkaan kaafE tha3wna2n 'I want just coffee' or, as we sometimes say, 'I just want coffee.'

Point V : The word ru2usf1k

This word means 'to feel' and is used very much the way the English word 'feel' is used, e.g.,

...

pho4m ru2usf1k sa1baay

ผมรู้สึกสบาย

'I feel well' or 'I feel comfortable.'

pho4m ru2usf1k rO2On

ผมรู้สึกร้อน

'I feel hot.'

khun ru2usf1k na4w ma4y

คุณรู้สึกหนาวไหม

'Do you feel cold?'

kha4w ru2usf1k hi4w ma3ak

เขารู้สึกหิวมาก

'He felt very hungry.'

In these examples it is clear that ru2usf1k means 'to feel' in the sense of 'to have a certain kind of sensation.' In English we also use the word in expressions where it means 'to feel something' (e.g. 'the blind man felt the book'), but the Thai word does not have this additional use.

Point VII : Measures of quantity used as classifiers.

On the following page are two sets of examples showing two distinct ways in which words like those for cup, bowl, spoon, and so on, are used:

First Set of Examples

kha4w df1fm kaafEE sO4ON thu3ay.

เขาดื่มกาแฟสองถ้วย

'He drank two cups of coffee.'

kha4w sa1N kha3aw sa4am caan.

เขาสั่งข้าวสามจาน

'They ordered three plates of rice.'

kha4w ra2ppra1thaan kEENka1y sO4ON chaam.

เขารับประทานแกงไก่ สองชาม

'They ate two bowls of chicken curry.'

kha4w sa1y na2mtaan sO4ON chO2On.

เขาใส่น้ำตาลสองช้อน

'He put in two spoonful of sugar.'

Second Set of Examples

kha4w sa1N thu3ay si1p bay.

เขาซื้อถ้วยสิบใบ

'He bought ten cups.'

wanni2i khonkha4aykhO4ON kha4ay caan ha3asi1p bay.

วันนี้คนขายของ ขายจาน ห้าสิบใบ

'The salesman sold fifty plates today.'

kha4w kha4ay chaam sa4ams1pha3a bay du3ay.

เขาขายชาม สามสิบห้า ใบด้วย

'He also sold thirty-five bowls.'

kha4w ?aw chO2On sO4ON khan maa ha3y raw.

เขาเอาช้อนสองคันมาให้เรา

'She brought us two spoons.'

In the first set of examples above the words for cup, plate, bowl, and spoon are used as measures of quantity to tell how much of a given substance is involved. In the second set of examples, on the other hand, these same words are used simply to refer to certain articles of use.

You will notice that when these words are used as measure of quantity, they are classifiers (because they are preceded by number-words), and as such, they may be used with any noun which refers to a substance that can be measured by the cup, by the plate, and so on.

In the second set of examples, however, these words are not classifiers, but nouns. And just like all other nouns, they have their own classifiers which are used when these articles are being counted by the piece.

Point VIII : Some classifiers

A: bay.

This classifier is used for practically all containers and therefore you find it used for cups, plates, and bowls, as in the following examples:

thu3ay si1p bay

ถ้วยสิบใบ

'ten cups'

caan bay na4y

จานใบไหน

'which plate?'

chaam bay diaw

ชามใบเดียว

'a single bowl'

This same classifier also has another important use described immediately below.

B: bay, lu3uk, and pho4n.

All three of these classifiers may be used interchangeably for all kinds of fruits, e.g.,

so3m sOON bay

ส้มสองใบ

so3m sOON lu3uk

ส้มสองลูก

so3m sOON pho4n

ส้มสองผล

'two oranges'

klu3ay bay na4y

กล้วยใบไหน

klu4ay lu3uk na4y

กล้วยลูกไหน

klu4ay pho4n na4y

กล้วยผลไหน

'which banana?'

C: chi2n.

This classifier is translated 'piece' and is used for anything which may be divided into pieces, e.g.,

nf2a sa4am chi2n

เนื้อสามชิ้น

'three pieces of meat'

nf2a chi2n le2kle2k

เนื้อชิ้นเล็กเล็ก

'small pieces of meat'

kha1no4mpaN chi2n diaw

ขนมปังชิ้นเดียว

'a single piece of bread'

D: cha2ni2t.

This classifier means 'kind, sort, variety' and may be used with anything, as long as you are speaking of kinds or varieties of that thing. Note the two sets of contrasting examples which follow:

thu3ay sO4ON bay

ถ้วยสองใบ

'two cups'

thu3ay sO4ON cha2ni2t

hถ้วยสองชนิด

'two kinds of cups'

na4Nsf4y si1i le3m

หนังสือสี่เล่ม

'four books'

na4Nsf4y si1i cha2ni2t

หนังสือสี่ชนิด

'four kinds of books'

Note that when cha2ni2t is used, you are counting kinds or sorts of the thing referred to by the noun, whereas when its regular classifier is used, you are counting single items.

E: khan.

You have previously learned to use this classifier with umbrellas. It is also used for spoons and forks, e.g.,

chO2On la4ay khan

ช้อนหลายคัน

'several spoons'

sO4Om khan na4y

ส้อมคันไหน

'which fork?'

F. le3m.

This classifier, typically used for sharppointed objects, is, as would be expected, the classifier for knives, e.g.,

mi3it le3m yaaw

มีดเล่มยาว

'the long knife'

G: tua.

Though tua has a wide variety of uses as a classifier, its most typical use is with animals, e.g.,

mu4u si1p tua

หมูสิบตัว

'ten hogs'

plaa tua diaw

ปลาตัวเดียว

'a single fish'

Point IX : Some compounds

loNmfy 'to start in, fall to, begin,' lit. 'to lower the hand.' Compare the English expression 'to get down to' (e.g., 'to get down to work') where the idea of getting down (one of the meanings of loN) is also present.

hu4Nto3m 'to cook (general term),'from hu4N 'to cook (rice)' + to3m 'to boil.'

kEENcf1ft 'a kind of Thai coup.' Here cf1ft means the opposite of phe1t 'to be hot, spicy' and kEENcf1ft is, therefore, a kind of curry which is not hot, i.e., does not have hot spices in it.

kEENka1y 'chicken curry,' from kEEN 'curry' + ka1y 'chicken.' This is a kind of hot (phe1t) curry.

khO4ONwa4an 'dessert,'lit. 'sweet stuff; sweet things.'

nf2anu4u 'pork,' lit. 'hog meat.'

pha2tmau4u 'fried mixture containing pork,' lit. 'pork fried mixture.'

pha1tmu4upri3awwa4an 'sweet and sour pork,' from pha1tmu4u + pri3awwa4an 'sweet-sour' (lit. 'sour-sweet').

pha1tnf2a 'fried mixture containing meat,' lit. 'meat fried mixture.'

phrO2wa3a 'because,' from phrO2? 'because, for' + wa3a 'to say' or 'that' (in the sense of 'he said that he was going'). The glottal stop (?) in phrO2? is dropped before a following consonant.


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