Thai sentence structure is likely not the first thing you think about when you consider learning the language.
However, as you start to progress, you will find that the way words are ordered in a sentence is an important consideration that greatly impacts the meaning of what you want to say.
If you’ve ever messed up Thai grammar when talking to close friends and relatives, you know the awkward feeling of being corrected.
But not to worry! Thai grammar is pretty easy to learn and to get a hang of.
To help you avoid more awkward situations, we will have a look at Thai sentence structure and how it affects the way Thai is written and spoken.
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Basic Thai Sentence Structure
The most basic explanation of Thai sentence structure is SVO – Subject, Verb, and Object. This is similar to English, which means that it is one less major change to have to consider.
As you can see in this basic sentence, it follows the same general order as in English.
The subject of the sentence, the person or thing that the sentence is about, is followed by the verb or action, and finally, the object that the subject is acting upon.
However, there are a few situations where the sentence structure would move around a bit from this basic outline.
Where Do Thai Adjectives Go?
Adjectives are a commonly used element in any language. They help to describe or modify words. Think of words like big, small, and strong.
Of course, adjectives are often used in Thai sentences too, which begs the question – where do adjectives go?
The answer is quite easy, actually. They are placed after the noun that they are describing or modifying.
Let’s imagine that you are ordering something in Thai – a nice iced tea.
Here, you see that the adjective yen (เย็น), or ‘iced’ in English, is placed after the noun chaa (ชา) or ‘tea’ in the Thai sentence. So, you would say something like:
English: I would like to order iced tea
Thai: Chǎn kɔ̌ɔ sàng chaa yen (ฉันขอสั่งชาเย็น)
That is really all there is to adding adjectives to Thai sentences. While it is the opposite of how we do it in English, you will get the hang of it after a while.
How To Make Thai Negative Sentences
The way you make sentences negative is by using words like ‘not’ or ‘no’.
The same is true in Thai, and they have one magical word that can turn almost any sentence or statement negative – mâi (ไม่).
Here is an example of how you would fit it into a Thai sentence:
English: I don’t eat pad thai
Thai: Chán mâi gin pàt tai (ชั้นไม่กินผัดไท)
As you may notice, the negative word mâi (ไม่) is placed before the verb. Here is another example to help you remember:
English: I cannot speak English
Thai: Chǎn pûut paa sǎa ang grìt mâi dâi (ฉันพูดภาษาอังกฤษไม่ได้)
The verb here is dai (ได้). Once again, you can see that to make it negative, you place the word mâi (ไม่) before it.
Thai Particles That Create Meaning
Unlike in English, particles are used in Thai as a way to convey emotion, mood, and politeness.
We have talked before about the polite words/particles in Thai kráp (ครับ) and kâ (ค่ะ). These are added to make a sentence more polite. However, there are many more particles you should know too:
English: Pardon?
Thai: À rai kráp (อะไรครับ)
There are also particles that are used to make a sentence of question less intense or sound softer. Ná (นะ) is an example of this:
English: What is it?
Thai: À rai ná (อะไรนะ)
For what it is worth, you can combine two different particles to form something like ná ká (นะคะ) that provides the meanings of both particles to your statement.
On the opposite end, there is wá (วะ), which is used to make a sentence more intense/sound more impolite. This is most likely used if someone is angry.
English: What the hell do you want?
Thai: À rai wá (อะไรวะ)
The important thing to remember is that particles always come at the end of the sentence, even after question words and tense words.
There are many examples of particles, and these are just a few. These can be very helpful to know, so you should try learning them.
Using Thai Tense Words
In Thai, verbs are not inflected (changed) to indicate tense as it is in English. Instead, separate time words are used.
Let’s take a look at the different words you need to use to use past, future, and present tense in Thai and how they fit into sentences.
Thai Past Tense
Lɛ́ɛo (แล้ว) is an example of a particle. It doesn’t translate exactly into English, but it best translates to ‘already’. For example:
English: I already ate
Thai: Chǎn gin lɛ́ɛo (ฉันกินแล้ว)
As you can see here, lɛ́ɛo (แล้ว) is added at the end of the sentence. It essentially changes the sentence to the past tense.
Another way to make the past tense is to use time-based adverbs.
By adding adverbs like yesterday in Thai to the end of the sentence, you will make it past tense.
English: I ate yesterday
Thai: Chǎn gin mʉ̂a waan níi (ฉันกินเมื่อวานนี้)
Using the phrase mʉ̂a…tîi lɛ́ɛo (เมื่อ…ที่แล้ว) and placing a word like a week, month or year in between, you can talk about what you did last week, last month, or last year:
English: I ate last year
Thai: Chǎn gin mʉ̂a bpii tîi lɛ́ɛo (ฉันกินเมื่อปีที่แล้ว)
As you can see, this phrase comes at the end of the sentence as well, following the same basic Thai sentence structure mentioned above.
However, things do change around.
Thai Future Tense
The word jà (จะ), meaning ‘will’ or ‘shall’, allows a sentence to be changed to the future tense. Here is an example of that:
English: I will eat
Thai: Chǎn jà gin (ฉันจะกิน)
Jà (จะ) is added before the verb to make it future tense, like in English. If you want the negative form, it is as simple as adding the negative word mâi (ไม่) after it.
English: I will not eat
Thai: Chǎn jà mâi gin (ฉันจะไม่กิน)
Thai Present Tense
Finally, for the present tense, gam lang (กำลัง) is used.
English: I am eating
Thai: Chǎn gam lang gin (ฉันกำลังกิน)
In this case, gam lang should be added before the verb. This would be the equivalent of adding ‘ing’ to an end of a verb in English.
Now, if you want to change it to a negative, as in ‘not eating’, you would use mâi dâi gam lang (ไม่ได้กำลัง):
English: I am not eating now
Thai: Chǎn mâi dâi gam lang gin/chǎn mâi dâi gin (ฉันไม่ได้กำลังกิน/ฉันไม่ได้กิน)
These represent the so-called ‘continuous tense’ where you are currently performing the verb.
Another word that you need to know is yang (ยัง). It is best translated to English as ‘yet’, so you can probably see how it will be applied to the sentence in Thai.
Usually, you will see it paired with the common verb phrase mâi dâi (ไม่ได้), meaning ‘cannot’. Together, they form the phrase ‘not yet’ – ‘yang mâi dâi‘ (ยังไม่ได้).
English: I have not yet eaten
Thai: Chǎn yang mâi dâi gin (ฉันยังไม่ได้กิน)
In this case, the time/tense phrase goes before the verb.
Overall, the different placements for these words make it a bit more difficult to learn and remember, but you will eventually get used to it.
Remembering Thai Question Words
Question words, including why, what, where, and when are placed at the end of a sentence in Thai, while in English, they generally go at the beginning. Here is an example of a question:
English: What will I eat?
Thai: Chǎn jà gin à rai dii (ฉันจะกินอะไรดี)
À rai (อะไร) means ‘what’ which you can see is placed right at the end of the question. This isn’t too difficult to get used to.
What is more difficult is the word mǎi (ไหม). This word can be seen as the equivalent of a question mark. It can be used to change a normal sentence to a question.
English: Want to eat?
Thai: Gin mǎi (กินไหม)
In this case, just the verb with the question word forms a complete question, though this is more informal.
Again, it is placed at the end of the sentence. We can do something similar in English by inflecting our voice (e.g., asking a friend ‘eaten?’ with your voice rising would have the same implication).
However, since Thai is a tonal language, inflections can’t be used. It is also worth noting that punctuation is nearly completely absent from Thai.
Otherwise, there are also some ‘yes-no’ questions that you may come across. These are usually very short and have a simple structure:
English: …or not?
Thai: Rʉ̌ʉ mâi (หรือไม่)
Another common example of this you will hear is:
English: …right?
Thai: Châi mái (ใช่ไหม)
Again, these follow that same basic sentence structure for questions in Thai.
Using Thai Prepositions
Prepositions are certainly not the easiest concept to get your head around, but they do serve an important purpose for Thai grammar.
Essentially, prepositions in Thai allow you to link together two words in a sentence. This is usually between the object and the subject of the sentence. Examples of prepositions include on, in, above, behind, and near.
So then, how do they fit into the Thai sentence order? It depends on which types of words are involved.
By that, I mean, if the preposition is applied to anything but a noun, it is placed at the end of the sentence. You would also include the word kâang (ข้าง) before these prepositions.
In the case that the proposition is placed before a noun, then the preposition will come before the noun, and you can drop the word kâang (ข้าง) if you want to.
How Do You Say Sentence Structure In Thai?
In Thai, sentence structure is referred to as kroong sâang bprà yòok (โครงสร้างประโยค)
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Vocabulary Related To Thai Sentence Structure
If you’re going to learn more about Thai sentence structure and other related topics, knowing vocabulary terms related to grammar is a must. See the table below for relevant vocab!
Tips On Thai Sentence Structure
To put what you’ve learned into action, keep in mind these five tips below:
- Always remember the basic sentence structure. Sentences start with the subject, then verb, then object.
- When adding words like particles or adjectives to sentences, memorize their placements. Adjectives go after the noun or verb, and particles tend to go at the end of the sentence. Negation words go before the verb, and question words go after the sentence.
- If you use the phrase mʉ̂a…tîi lɛ́ɛo (เมื่อ…ที่แล้ว) and placing a word like a week, month or year in between, you can talk about what you did last week, last month, or last year.
- Speak in Thai to your family and friends. Exposure to the language’s sentence structure organically is the best way to learn!
- Use the Ling app and other ways of learning Thai online. Reading and writing Thai can help reinforce Thai sentence structure in your mind.
With these tips above, you should be mastering Thai’s sentence structure and grammar in no time!
Frequently Asked Questions About Thai Sentence Structure
1. Is Thai A SOV or SVO?
Thai is an SVO language. When constructing Thai sentences, you start with naming the subject, then the action that subject takes, and the object affected by that action. Compare this to SOV languages like Japanese, Korean, or Turkish. These languages start with the subject, then the object, then action.
2. Why Do People End Sentences With Ka?
Kâ (ค่ะ) is a feminine politeness particle used in Thai at the end of sentences. The masculine equivalent is kráp (ครับ). Thai people use these when they want to emphasize the level of politeness in a sentence. You may notice that all Thai speakers end their sentences with these particles!
3. How Is Thai Grammar Different From English Grammar?
English grammar is generally more rigid than Thai grammar. Some major differences are that Thai has no verb conjugations, the presence of particles, and finally another major difference is that modifiers go after the noun. These differences can make Thai grammar difficult to grasp at first, but many learners get used to it over time and with practice.
Thai Sentence Structure Is Not So Difficult
Adding to that, there are no articles, which is overall good as it means fewer words to remember. There are, however, time words and phrases that specify when an action occurred, determining the tense.
Question words will also impact how a sentence is made. You will need to familiarize yourself with these to increase your fluency and ability to structure sentences in Thai.
Once you master sentence construction, you can make even more complex sentences and maybe even impress your relatives or friends who are native Thai speakers!
Master Thai Language Grammar Today
Using this knowledge, it is possible to place together sentences using the vocabulary you know to communicate with your loved ones. Imagine the surprise when they see your Thai skills in action!
One great way to learn Thai language anywhere and at any time is by using online language learning apps and courses like the Ling app!
Ling’s beginner to intermediate units can help you familiarize yourself with Thai sentence structure and teach you valuable vocabulary so you can have deeper conversations with those around you.
If that sounds good to you, why don’t you give the Ling app a shot and improve your Thai today?
