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In this lesson, we will expand on the proper Thai greeting by adding just a few new words so you can give your name, ask someone their name, and correct them if they get your name wrong.
Thais have first and last names, but they do not have middle names. Their names are sometimes long and difficult to pronounce.
Fortunately, they also have nicknames that are usually very short and easy to remember. We won't be using them in our dialog yet, since we are still maintaining a polite form of speech. The two people do not know each other.
The word chûu means to be named, or name, and refers to the first name.
The word naam-sà-gune means to be named, or name, and refers to the last name.
Just as in other languages, there are many ways to form a question in Thai. However, because Thai is a tonal language you can't form a question by simply changing the pitch of a sentence like you can in English. You need to use one of the question words or the person you are speaking with will not understand. The words who, what, when, where, why, how, and can you all have Thai equivalents and they are quite easy to learn with a little practice.
In the previous lesson you learned that just about any ordinary statement can be changed into a question by adding one of the question particles to the end:
These are quite handy and useful, but when you want more specific information, you'll need to use a few other words. We'll learn some of these for our dialog in this lesson.
As in the previous lesson, try to focus on learning the new words and how to read the letters to form the correct tone and sound. Avoid skipping ahead as much as possible. Spelling words out in your head, on paper, or by typing them with your Thai keyboard will force you to memorize them, and then you will quickly learn the dialog.
Active Thai is a work in progress, supported by our users. Please tell your friends!
Active Thai is a work in progress, supported by our users. Please tell your friends!