Thai Hotel

Useful Thai Phrase: Learning how to express Can and Cannot in Thai

Dai means can and Mai dai means cannot.

To express that you can do something in Thai, you can use the word “Dai” which means, can. If you would like to express that you can’t do something, simply negate the verb dai with “Mai”.

Dai krap/ka.
Yes, I can.

Mai dai krap/ka.
No, I can’t

In Thailand, you would use the polite particle krap at the end of your sentence if you’re male and ka if you’re female. The purpose of using krap or ka is to make the sentence polite, much like Japanese’s version of -masu.

Let’s say you want to ask someone if he can speak Thai. How would you ask him in Thai?

Koon poot passa Thai dai mai?
Can you speak Thai?

Koon is you, Poot means speak, and passa is langauge. Literally, the above sentence would mean “You speak language Thai can?”

Mai, before a verb = no / do not
After a verb = question marker

As you have noticed, mai, when used before a verb, means no or do not. If it is used after a verb, it acts like the Japanese version of ka - a question marker.

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Posted on August 10, 2006

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RippaSama is a passionate Thai language lover who just can’t stop learning Thai when he is on fire. If you want to read and learn more about his Thai language lessons and tips, you can visit (http://MyThaiSensei.com)

Copyright 2006 - RippaSama. You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made, the author’s name is retained and the link to our site URL remains active.
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Jamnuan (Numbers)

Counting from 0 to 10 in Thai

Counting in Thai is really simple. All
you have to do is to remember the basic
numbers from 0 to 10. It’s just like
counting in Chinese or Japanese.
Do spend some time memorizing the basic
numbers in Thai, it is worth it.

0 - suun
1 - nung
2 - soong
3 - saam
4 - sii
5 - haa
6 - hok
7 - jet
8 - bpeet
9 - gaao
10 - sip

How to count above 10 in Thai…

To count above 10, simply add how many sip (10) and the next
corresponding number. Since sip itself is already 10,
you can just omit the nung (sip-et instead of nung sip-et).

For example, 11 would be sip-et, 12 would be sip soong
and 15 would be sip haa. Notice that 11 is sip-et instead of
sip-nung. This is the only exception to counting in Thai.

11 - sip-et
12 - sip soong
13 - sip saam
20 - yii sip
21 - yii sip et
25 - yii sip haa
30 - saamsip
31 - saamsip et
36 - saamsiphok
40 - sii sip
49 - sii sipgaoo
50 - haa-sip
60 - hok-sip
70 - jet-sip
80 - bpeet-sip
90 - gaao-sip

To count in 100, simply add how many rooi after the number.
For example, 100 would be nung rooi and 111 would be
nung rooi, sip-et. 999 would be gaao rooi, gaao-sip, gaao.

To count in 1000, you would add pan after the number.
For example, 2000 would be soongpan. Similary, 2345
would be soonpan, saam rooi, sip sii, haa. 5987 would be
haa pan, gaao rooi, bpeet-sip, jet. Simple, right?

You can find view the original article here at
(http://mythaisensei.com/thai_words/count_in_thai.html)

RippaSama is a passionate Thai language lover who just can’t stop learning Thai when he is on fire. If you want to read and learn more about his Thai language lessons and tips, you can visit (http://MyThaiSensei.com)

Copyright 2006 - RippaSama. You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made, the author’s name is retained and the link to our site URL remains active.

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Meet my new Thai keyboard. Beautiful ain’t she?
With this baby, I can now type Thai faster
and with confidence!

Okay, there’s something I would like to confess…

I don’t have a Thai keyboard! Huh? So what?

What do you mean so what?!! Well, if you can
type Thai without looking at your keyboard, it isn’t
so much of a big deal. But I can’t! Not until now…

The real problem to typing in Thai is…

For the beginners in Thai language, using a non-Thai
keyboard to type Thai can be quite frustrating
and frankly a waste of time..

Why? Because
you will be spending most your time trying to figure
out which key belongs to which Thai alphabet.

If you’re someone who refuse to memorize
things that are simply unimportant (in this
case, the exact key to hit for each Thai alphabet
on your keyboard), this little tutorial can help you
solve that problem.

You’ll learn how to create your own
Thai keyboard easily, step by step, without
spending any money at all (that’s assuming that you
already have all the tools at hand.)

If you can buy a Thai keyboard
easily, by all means, go for it. This guide
is actually for people who don’t have access
to a Thai keyboard.

Having said that, building your own Thai keyboard is a wonderful
learning experience. By merely investing some time
and with some patience, you will be able to cleary distinguish
the subtle difference of each Thai alphabet.

Without further ado, let’s begin, shall we?

To build your own Thai keyboard, you will need a:

Printer and a piece of paper to print the Thai alphabet keys.

Keyboard. (If you’re using a notebook,
buy or use a spare ps2 or usb keyboard.)

Double sided tape.

Transparent tape.

Pair of scissors.

Ruler.

Creating your own Thai Keyboard, step by step…

Thai alphabet keys. Print this out and stick it to the corresponding keys
on your keyboard. Starting from the top left is key 1, 2nd row key Q,
3rd row key A and the last row key Z.

First, print out the above thai alphabets. You will
need to resize it to half the key size of your keyboard.

Now stick the back of the first row with double sided
tape so that it will stick to the keys of your keyboard.

Note: Do not peel off the outer layer yet!

Next, flip the paper over and stick a layer of protection
over the Thai alphabets using a transparent tape.

To ensure that the transparent tape is clear of any dirts
and fingerprints, simply pull it out fast only stick the tranparent
part onto the paper.

Now, cut out each row of the Thai alpabet with
a knife or a pair of scissors. Be sure to cut according to
the line printed.

Finally, peel off the outer layer (double sided tape) of each
Thai alphabet and stick it to corresponding keys on your keyboard.

If you got confused which key belongs to which alphabet, simply
refer back to the Thai alphabet keys above.

Voila! You did it! Simple isn’t it? Now, it’s time
to enjoy your new Thai keyboard. Let’s start
typing Thai already…

You can find view the original article here at
(http://mythaisensei.com/thai_writing/create_thai_keyboard.html)

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