Understanding Thai Verbs and Tense Markers

Thai verbs and tense markers are essential components of the language. Unlike many Western languages, Thai verbs do not change form to indicate tense. Instead, the language relies on context and time expressions to convey when an action occurs.

Thai Verbs: The Basics

Thai verbs remain unchanged regardless of tense, person, or number. This simplifies verb usage but requires learners to pay close attention to context and time markers.

        Example: กิน (kin) - to eat
        ฉันกินข้าว (Chan kin khao) - I eat rice / I ate rice / I will eat rice
    

Expressing Tense in Thai

While Thai verbs don't change form, the language uses various methods to indicate when an action occurs:

Time expressions
Context
Aspect markers
Auxiliary verbs

Time Expressions

Thai often uses specific time expressions to clarify when an action takes place.

        เมื่อวาน (muea waan) - yesterday
        พรุ่งนี้ (phrung nee) - tomorrow
        ตอนนี้ (ton nee) - now
    

Aspect Markers

Thai uses aspect markers to indicate the status of an action:

กำลัง (kamlang) - indicates an ongoing action
แล้ว (laew) - indicates a completed action
จะ (ja) - indicates a future action

        ฉันกำลังกินข้าว (Chan kamlang kin khao) - I am eating rice
        ฉันกินข้าวแล้ว (Chan kin khao laew) - I have eaten rice
        ฉันจะกินข้าว (Chan ja kin khao) - I will eat rice
    

Auxiliary Verbs

Thai uses auxiliary verbs to add nuance to the main verb:

เคย (khoey) - used to / have experience
ได้ (dai) - can / to be able to
ต้อง (tong) - must / have to

        ฉันเคยไปญี่ปุ่น (Chan khoey pai Yipun) - I have been to Japan
    