Thailand Culture

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Lesson Five: Thai Language Classes: More Question Words

Using question words in front of a sentence emphasizes the question word. For example, who or ใคร (krai) can be used in front of a Thai sentence or at the end of a Thai sentence. Let’s examine the use of the word Krai meaning who.

The two English sentences below use the same English words, yet they mean different things.

• Who are you going with?

The emphasis of this sentence is ‘you‘. The asker wants to know who you are going with. Now compare this to:

• Who is going with you?

The emphasis of this sentence is not you but the person who is going with you. The asker wants to know what person is going with you.

The same can be said in the Thai Language.

คุณ	ไป	กับ	ใคร
Khun	pai	krub	krai
You	go	with	who

This is equivalent to asking: who are you going with?

Subject + Verb + Object + Who

ใคร	ไป	กับ	คุณ
Khun	pai	krub	khun
Who	go	with	you

Who + Verb + Object + Subject

This is equivalent to asking: who is going with you?

More Question Words

Other Question Words Usage in the Thai Language

Other Thai Question Words can also be used at the beginning of the Thai sentences to emphasize the question.

For example:

What is your name?

คุณ	ชื่อ	อะไร
Khun	chuer	aa-rai
You	name	what?

This is a more common way of asking for someone’s name. This Thai sentence focuses on the person more than his or her name. It is equivalent to “what is YOUR name?”

อะไร	คือ	ชื่อคุณ
Aa-rai	khur	chuer – khun
What	is	Your name?

This is a less common way of asking for someone’s name. This Thai sentence focuses on the question of the name more than the owner of the name. It is equivalent to “WHAT is your name?”

Note that the verb associated with the less common way of asking the question is different. So, to start off with, beginners of the Thai langauge should stick with either using the question word in front of the Thai sentence or at the end. Since using Thai Question Words at the end of Thai sentences is more common, we should start with that.