Basic Thai Grammar: Present Continuous Tense

Basic Thai Grammar: Present Continuous Tense

If you just started learning Thai, you first need to know some basic rules of the language. Developing a solid foundation in Thai grammar will not only help you create your own sentences correctly but will also make it easier to improve your communication skills in both spoken and written Thai.

In this lesson teacher Pear explains useful Thai tenses we use in everyday life which are Present Continuous Tense and Future tense.

The pattern of ‘Present continuous’ or verb with “-ing” in Thai is:

กำลัง /gam-lang/ + do something + อยู่ yùu

This pattern is used to describe two different actions;

[1] It is used to express action that is happening at the moment speaking such as ‘I am eating’, ‘she is cooking etc.

In spoken Thai we often drop either the word ‘กำลัง gam-lang’ or ‘อยู่ yùu’.

For example:

-“I am eating” in Thai can be phrased in three different ways.

1. ผม/ชั้นกำลังกินข้าวอยู่ [pŏm/chán gam-lang gin kâao yùu]

2. ผม/ชั้นกำลังกินข้าว [pŏm/chán gam-lang gin kâao]

3. ผม/ชั้นกินข้าวอยู่ [pŏm/chán gin kâao yùu]

 

I am studying Thai language.

ผมกำลังเรียนภาษาไทย /pŏm gam-lang rian paa-săa tai/

ฉันกำลังเรียนภาษาไทย /chán gam-lang rian paa-săa tai/

 

[2] Thai present continuous is also used to describe a long action in progress even though you may not do the action right now

For example;

-I’m trying to lose weight.

ผมกำลังพยายามลดน้ำหนัก /pŏm gam-lang pá-yaa-yaam lót náam-nàk/

ฉันกำลังพยายามลดน้ำหนัก/ chán gam-lang pá-yaa-yaam lót náam-nàk/

 

ลดน้ำหนัก /lót náam-nàk/ = lose weight.

พยายาม / pá-yaa-yaam/ = try to achieve something

 

-I’m studying Thai these days.

ช่วงนี้ผมกำลังเรียนภาษาไทย

/ chûang-níi pŏm gam-lang rian paa-săa tai/

ช่วงนี้  /chûang-níi/ = These days, this period of time

เรียน /rian/ = study

 

-These days I’m preparing for a new job.

ช่วงนี้ผมกำลังเตรียมตัวสำหรับงานใหม่

/ chûang-níi pŏm gam-lang dtriam dtua săm-ràp ngaan mài/

 

เตรียมตัว /dtriam dtua/ =Prepare

 

[3] Future plan

Thai future tense pattern is : จะ /jà/ + do something

For example;

-Tonight I’m meeting my friend.

คืนนี้ ผม จะ ไป เจอ เพื่อน /kuen-níi pŏm jà bpai jer pûean/

 

Question Structure:

To form the Present Continuous question such as ‘what are you doing?’, the same pattern is applied as following:

subject +กำลัง gam-lang + verb + question word + อยู่ yùu?

“do” in Thai is ทำ /tam/, and ‘What?’ is อะไร /à-rai/.

The question ‘what are you doing?’ can be phrased in three different ways:

1. คุณกำลังทำอะไรอยู่ /kun gam-lang tam à-rai yùu?/

2.คุณกำลังทำอะไร /kun gam-lang tam à-rai?/

3. คุณทำอะไรอยู่/[kun tam à-rai yùu?/

* The third sentence is commonly used in spoken Thai.

 

We hope you enjoyed this lesson, and have learned something new. 🙂

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