Common Lao Verbs: 20+ Incredibly Essential Examples

When we’re first learning a language, we need to have a solid grasp of the fundamentals, so today, we’re bringing you a list of common Lao verbs. We’re not going to do anything too complicated, and we’ll just be going through the most basic ones that you can utilize immediately, such as:

Be pen ເປັນ

Have mi ມີ

Do hed ເຮັດ

Common Lao verbs are just one of the units available on the Ling language learning app. Ling brings you 50 crucial topics and sub-units within each unit, so all your bases are covered.

Why has Ling amassed 10 million downloads over the Google Play and App Store? Using a combination of user feedback and my own personal preference, I think the first thing is the sheer amount of languages. 60 in total. But not just the big hitters like English and Mandarin, but also smaller languages like Lao and Khmer that the likes of Duolingo don’t consider.

The cost of Ling is also exceptional. For example, if you sign up in June, you get a yearly subscription for just $55. Because Ling is based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, its running costs are low, and those savings can be passed on to you.

Common Lao Verbs- A List

What Is A Verb?

Sometimes it’s important to be reminded specifically of what verbs are. In the most basic sense, verbs are ‘doing’ words. They describe an action. The cat sat on the mat.

Is Learning Verbs Important?

We can learn a lot about language development through how children learn their own first language.

I have very vivid memories of my own time learning a second language in school. A classroom of 25 bored kids would have to recite and then repeatedly drill whatever sentence the French teacher had put on the board.

Does this sound like how a baby learns their native language?

That is why language learning now is all based on input. A baby takes in all that comprehensible input, and deep brain structures start to work deciphering it. In fact, a lot of the learning goes on at a level underneath the surface of conscious awareness.

The first parts of speech a child processes will often be basic nouns such as Mom, Dad, and Ball, but then by about the age of 2, a child starts to link together their nouns with the verbs. ‘Mom’ becomes ‘Mom look here.’ Many of the verbs children learn first can be found in our table above.

The science also backs up the importance of children learning these verbs. A recent study showed that the more verbs a child had by the age of 2, the more advanced their grammatical skills were later in life. If you want a baby with high linguistic ability, a good target is 40 verbs by 2 months.

I know you didn’t come here to discuss child development, but the lessons learned are useful.

My advice to you would be to keep a list of verbs you’ve already learned handy around the house. Again, you don’t want to get into the habit of forcing yourself to read them, but rather have them on the fridge or near your tv for when there’s a commercial break.

Another note: although you shouldn’t do this too rigidly, pay attention to what verbs you are memorizing. Obviously, our list is of the most common Lao verbs, but if you really like painting, dancing, or boxing. Make sure you include those verbs in your personal list.

Some Information About The Lao Language

Lao is in the ‘Tai Kadai languages’ family which incorporates both Lao and Thai (there is something called the Isan language, which is spoken in Thailand but is Lao). Lao is also a tonal language, and Lao words and written Lao are very difficult to follow if you have no experience with them.

The official language of the People’s Democratic Republic of Lao is known as Lao; however, there are many different Lao dialects, including Lao Kao, Lao-Lum, and Vientiane Lao. The Vientiane dialect is the one you’ll find in Ling.

Learn Lao With Ling

So what does a Ling course look like?

One thing to say is that when the developers of Ling set out to design an app in 2017, they weren’t aiming to reinvent the wheel. Ling has great respect for Duolingo and Rosetta Stone, who were the real pioneers of the field.

So Ling might be largely recognizable to you if you’ve used language learning apps before. The basic idea is to treat learning as a kind of game where you earn points and rewards for making your way through the different levels. A level might include some gap fill, identifying the correct audio, and matching pictures to words. Ling also has a chatbot element where you speak to an A.I and try and maintain a natural-sounding conversation.

Ling also has a leaderboard that allows you to compare yourself to other users. Of course, comparing yourself with others can often negatively affect your mental health, so the leaderboard also allows you to compare yourself with just how you’ve done over the previous weeks.

If you’re still not sure whether Ling might be the best for you or whether there are other options out there you might like to try, no problem; Ling also reviews other apps to give you a sense of what is good and bad out there. These 2 reviews have been making waves recently: HiNative vs. Anki and FluentU vs. Duolingo.

We also have this dedicated Lao blog that has posted weekly content for the last 6 months.

Thanks for reading!