Thai Sentence Structure: 7 Useful Grammar Tips

Thai Sentence Structure

The sentence structure of Thai is likely not the first thing you think about when you want to learn 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 grammar of the language. Without knowing it, you will likely end up sounding very weird when you try to speak Thai, and many people will have trouble understanding.

To help you with this, we will have a look at Thai sentence structure and how it affects the way Thai is written and spoken.

Basic Thai Sentence Structure

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.

Thai Sentence Structure Thai Adjectives

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 ‘cha’ (ชา) or tea in the Thai sentence. So, you would say something like:

I would like to order iced tea

Chan kor sang cha 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 – ‘mai’ (ไม่). Here is an example of how you would fit it into a Thai sentence:

I don’t eat pad thai

Chan mai gin pad thai

ชั้นไม่กินผัดไท

As you may notice, the negative word ‘mai’ is placed before the verb. Here is another example to help you remember:

I cannot speak English

Chan puut pasaa angrit mai dai

ฉันพูดภาษาอังกฤษไม่ได้

The verb here is ‘dai’ (ได้). Once again, you can see that to make it negative, you place the word ‘mai’ 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 Thaikhrap’ (ครับ) and ‘ka’ (ค่ะ). These are added to make a sentence more polite. However, there are many more particles you should know too:

Pardon? 

Arai khrap? 

อะไรครับ 

There are also particles that are used to make a sentence of question less intense or sound softer. ‘Na’ (นะ) is an example of this: 

What is it? 

Arai na? 

อะไรนะ 

For what it is worth, you can combine two different particles to form something like ‘na ka’ (นะคะ) that provides the meanings of both particles to your statement.

On the opposite end, there is ‘wa’ (วะ), which is used to make a sentence more intense/sound more impolite. This is most likely used if someone is angry.

What the hell do you want? 

Arai wa? 

อะไรวะ 

The important thing to remember is that particles always come at the end of the sentence, even after question words and tense words, which will move on soon. 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

’Laew’ (แล้ว) is an example of a particle. It doesn’t translate exactly into English, but it best translates to ‘already’. For example:

I already ate  

Chan gin laew 

ฉันกินแล้ว 

As you can see here, ‘laew’ 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.

I ate yesterday

Chan gin mua wan nii

ฉันกินเมื่อวานนี้

Here’s a tip – using the phrase ‘mua…thi laew’ (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:

I ate last year

Chan gin mua pi thi laew

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 ‘ja’ (จะ), meaning ‘will’ or ‘shall’, allows a sentence to be changed to the future tense. Here is an example of that:

I will eat 

Chan ja gin 

ฉันจะกิน 

‘Ja’ 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 ‘mai’ (ไม่) after it.

I will not eat

Chan ja mai gin

ฉันจะไม่กิน

Thai Present Tense

Finally, for the present tense, ‘gamlung’ (กำลัง) is used.

I am eating 

Chan gamlung gin 

ฉันกำลังกิน

 

In this case, ‘gamlung’ 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 ‘mai dai gamlung’ (ไม่ได้กำลัง):

I am not eating now

Chan mai dai gamlung gin / Chan mai dai 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 ‘mai dai’ (ไม่ได้), meaning ‘cannot’. Together, they form the phrase ‘not yet’‘yang mai dai’ (ยังไม่ได้).

I have not yet eaten

Chan yang mai dai 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:

What will I eat? 

Chan ja gin arai dee? 

ฉันจะกินอะไรดี

 ‘Arai’ (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 ‘mai’ (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. 

Want to eat? 

Gin mai? 

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:

…Or not?

Rue mai

หรือไม่

Another common example of this you will hear is:

…Right?

Chai mai?

ใช่ไหม

Again, these follow that same basic sentence structure for questions in Thai.

Thai Sentence Structure Thai Prepositions

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 ‘kaang’ (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 ‘kaang’ if you want to. I included it here for reference:

Thai Sentence Order 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.

Using this knowledge, it is possible to place together sentences using the vocabulary you know. To help you learn vocabulary and test yourself further, try the Ling app.

Download the app on the Play Store or App Store and give the best you got in memorizing words. It’s fun, easy, and handy too!

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