Question Word “How” in Thai:
As I mentioned at the beginning, there are three different words for the question “how?” in Thai language. It denpends on what you are asking for.
[1] ยังไง yang ngai
It is used to ask for ‘how to do something’ or aksing for means or method. The pattern for this question is
do something + yang ngai ยังไง
Example;
คุณไปทำงานยังไง
kun bpai tam-ngaan yang-ngai?
How do you go to work?
สะกดชื่อคุณยังไง
sà-gòt chûe kun yang-ngai?
How to spell your name?
พวกเขาเจอกันยังไง
pûak-káo jer gan yang-ngai?
How did they meet?
[2] เท่าไหร่ tâo-rài
We know the meaning of เท่าไหร่ for ‘how much?’. It is also used for questions ‘how’ when asking for the answer that can be measured in numbers. For instance asking for age, weight, height or duration of time.
For example;
จากท่าสะพานตากสินไปท่าราชวงศ์ใช้เวลานานเท่าไหร่
jàak tâa Saphan Taksin bpai tâa Ratchawong chái way-laa naan tâo-râi?
How long does it take from Sapan Taksin pier to Ratchawong pier?
( “How long?” in Thai is นานเท่าไหร่ naan tâo-rài? )
คุณจะอยู่ประเทศไทยนานเท่าไหร่
kun jà yùu bprà-tâde tai naan tâo-rài?
How long will you stay in Thailand?
คุณอายุเท่าไหร่ kun aa-yú tâo-rài? (How old are you? )
คุณสูงเท่าไหร่ kun sŭung tâo-rài? (How tall are you?)
กระเป๋าหนักเท่าไหร่ grà-bpăo nàk tâo-rài? (How heavy is the bag?)
[3] แค่ไหน kâe-năi?
It is used to ask question ‘how’ when asking for ‘degree of something’
For instance;
ประเทศไทยสวยแค่ไหน bprà-tâde tai sŭai kâe-năi?
How beautiful is Thailand?
คุณรักผมมากแค่ไหน kun rák pŏm mâak kâe-năi?
How much do you love me?
แกงเขียวหวานเผ็ดแค่ไหน Gaeng kǐae-wăan pèt kâe-năi?
How spicy is Green curry?
Just remember that if we are not asking for method or if the answer can not be measued in numbers , we will use the question แค่ไหน?
SUMMARY:
There are three different ‘HOW’ question words in Thai.
- ยังไง used to ask for ‘how to something’
- เท่าไหร่ used when the answer can be measure in numbers
- แค่ไหน used to ask for ‘the degree of something’
Slang from the Conversation:
- เชย /cheoi/
It means old-fashioned or outdated. We use เชย /cheoi/ to describe things that are outdated or people who don’t keep up with the latest news or people who are not aware of things that are in trend.
- บ้านนอก /bâan-nâwk/
This word literally means ‘rural area’ or ‘countryside’. We also use this word as a slang in a similar meaning to เชย to describe people who are NOT IN TREND, or English expression “You are a hick!”
- โคตร /kôot/
It means ‘very, super’. It . It is actually a rude word, but it is ok to use it among your close friends. This word can be used for both positive and negative meaning.
Example;
ก๋วยเตี๋ยวคั่วไก่ที่เยาวราชโคตรอร่อย
gŭai-dtǐao kúa gài tîi yao-wá-ráat kôot à-ròi
Fried Chicken Noodle in Chinatown is super tasty!
โคตรสวย kôot sŭai (very beautiful)
โคตรดี kôot dii (very good)
โคตรแพง kôot paeng (very expensive)
โคตรร้อน kôot ráwn (very hot).
- เว่อร์ wêr
This is a widely used slang among Thai. I think it is dervied from English word ‘over’. It is used to describe someone who exaggerate or talk about something that sounds hard to believe. Or do something too much.
From the role play in the video,I said that Fried Chicken Noodle in Chinatown was super super delicious. Pear thinks it is just a dish with very basic ingredietns and don’t think there is anything special about it and she thinks I might over exaggerate so she said to me “เว่อร์ wêr!!”
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Very good tutorial. The video really makes it easier to practice pronunciations. Thanks!
So amusing to see your role play. Really enjoyed it. Thank you!
I am happy to hear that you enjoyed the lesson. 🙂
Thanks for the Thai Tutorial.
Thank you for your kind wishes Christiane. love your post🙂
Hi Mod, i was looking at YouTube Thai lesson 12, verb to be, “bpen”. I’m confused! In the first part of the lesson your showing “kao” with a high tone, then in the summary part your showing “kao” with a rising tone?
Is a rising tone wrong or is this how it should be?
Hi Chris, apologies for the delay in my response. Thank you for watching my video and sorry for the confusion. There are two versions for the word ‘he or she’ in Thai; the written form is “เขา kăo” with rising tone, but when speaking, it is spoken with ‘high tone’ so many people write this word with high tone “เค้า káo” to match the current pronunciation. I usually like to write this word with high tone but sometimes I mix them up.
Thanks for the reply Mod.
One of these day’s i will have some lesson’s with you! If your not too busy.
We look forward to hearing from you. 🙂
Great article Mod.
I need to brush up on my Thai. Any chance of getting these in audio format? That would be great.
To my ” New very reliable Thaï Friends ” Kru Mod and Pear :
I can rely on you so much, for allowing me to make much progress in learning Thaï language !
I say THANK YOU again to both of you, and MANY CONGRATULATIONS for your very attractive way you teach Foreigners who get very interested by your good job, then !
Christiane.
Thank you for your kind wishes Christiane. 🙂
One thing it might be interesting for you to note in the future: instead of calling this a “mini play” we would probably use e word “skit” instead…
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Thanks for the video! You make everything so easy to understand. You said that ‘How much do you love me?’ is คุณรักฉันมากแค่ไหน … Does this mean that I can write ‘How much do you miss me?’ As คุณคิดถึงมากแค่ไหน or would I not write มาก?
สวัสดีค่ะคุณมะม่วง
Thank you for watching my videos. I am happy to hear that you found our lesson useful in your Thai learning 🙂
Regarding your question, you got it right! How much do you miss me? คุณคิดถึงฉัน/ผมมากแค่ไหน 🙂 We have to use มาก with แค่ไหน to from the question ‘how much?’ when asking for the degree of something. 🙂
I obtained a lot of benefit from this lesson. Thank you so much Mod and Pear!
Hopefully that you will give us more explanation of synonyms in the future lessons.
Sawatdee ka Yvan,
Thank you for watching our lesson. We are happy to hear that you found it useful. Hope you continue to follow our lessons int he future as well 🙂
great lesson is there any difference between เท่าไหร่ and เท่าไร ty and greetings from germany
สวัสดีค่ะคุณเจ 🙂
เท่าไร sounds old-fashioned, now we only use เท่าไหร่ ka.
You girl do such a great job. I really miss these videos. They are so great. So…to me เท่าไร sounds very much like เท่าไหร่ Is the tone just different?
ถูกต้องค่ะ That’s correct, but เท่าไร is not used anymore in spoken Thai. 🙂
how and where i can download your video? im am traveler as know as Backpacker , and what your teach is very good for me as traveler ..
Thank you for watching my video. You can download YouTube videos by using a website like keepvid.com 🙂
Nice lesson, you girls do a great job. The lessons are very well structured, easy to follow and the video quality is excellent. Just to add something here, maybe you could have also included the alternative to yang-ngai (ยังไง) which is yàang-rai (อย่างไร).
Thank you for watching and your feedback. 🙂
อย่างไร (yàang-rai) is not used in spoken Thai at all, it is too formal. We would like to show the real life conversation, so learners can speak like a Thai 🙂
Excellent video guys, it all makes sense now. Love the way you mix in the slang too (-:
Thanks Krue Mod & Pear, great job!
Oh and well done the (new) camera person and editing and actors of course!
Now you just need a boom mic to get better, directional sound…maybe I might bring my Sennheiser 416 to BKK on 1st March 555555
Sennheiser 🙂
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