How Thai works
Short pieces on why the language and the country are shaped the way they are.
Why this works
None of it is required to pass a drill, but a rule with a reason behind it takes far less memorising than one without, and most of what looks arbitrary in Thai turns out not to be.
Script, tone rules, transactions
weeks 1 to 414 pieces- wk 1
Why there are three consonant classes
4 minWhy are 44 letters sorted into three groups that look arbitrary? - wk 1
Why the alphabet is worth four weeks
4 minCould I not just read the romanised version? - wk 1
ครับ and ค่ะ are not politeness
3 minWhy does dropping one small word make me sound rude? - wk 1
Your mouth, from French
5 minWhich Thai sounds does French give me, and which does it get in the way of? - wk 1
Your mouth, from English
5 minWhich Thai sounds does English give me, and which does it get in the way of? - wk 1
Tones survive questions
3 minHow do I ask a question in Thai without changing the words? - wk 2
Thai has no tenses, and does not need them
3 minHow do you talk about the past if verbs never change? - wk 2
The little words at the end are the grammar
3 minWhy does every sentence end in ครับ, นะ or สิ? - wk 2
Why the greeting is 'have you eaten yet?'
2 minSomeone asked if I have eaten. Are they inviting me to lunch? - wk 3
Why you cannot just say 'two dogs'
3 minWhat are classifiers actually for? - wk 3
เกรงใจ, and why nobody asks you for anything
4 minWhy do people seem reluctant to trouble me, even when I offered? - wk 3
พี่ and น้อง: age is grammar here
3 minWhy does everyone call me by a family word? - wk 4
Thai sentences start with what you are talking about
3 minWhy do Thai sentences seem to be in the wrong order? - wk 4
Face, and why nobody will tell you your Thai is bad
3 minEveryone says my Thai is good. Is it?
Time and verb chains
weeks 5 to 98 pieces- wk 5
แล้ว is not the passé composé
3 minWhy does แล้ว turn up in sentences about tomorrow? - wk 5
The Thai day has six blocks, not two
4 minWhy does the clock seem to start over four times? - wk 6
Why Thai has no infinitive
3 minWhere is the 'to' in 'go to buy'? - wk 6
ไป and มา are about where you are standing
3 minWhy does a Thai speaker say 'come' where I would say 'go'? - wk 7
ได้ before the verb and ได้ after it are different words
3 minWhy does ไม่ได้ไป mean 'did not go' but ไปไม่ได้ mean 'cannot go'? - wk 7
เป็นหวัด: Thai illnesses are things you are
3 minWhy do you 'be' a cold? - wk 8
ไม่ต้อง does not mean 'must not'
3 minI said ไม่ต้อง and they stopped. Was that rude? - wk 9
Why your tones drift on the words you know best
4 minI can say the word on its own. Why is it wrong inside a sentence?
Opinion and nuance
weeks 10 to 137 pieces- wk 10
Comparison proves Thai adjectives are verbs
3 minWhy is there no 'is' and no 'more' in 'more expensive'? - wk 10
Saying the word twice
3 minWhy does saying ดี twice not mean 'very good'? - wk 11
Nobody says yes
3 minI asked a yes or no question and got a verb back. - wk 11
Question words do not move
3 minWhy is there no inversion in a Thai question? - wk 12
French politeness is syntax, Thai politeness is particles
3 minHow do I do what the conditionnel does? - wk 12
เลย is three words
3 minWhy does เลย mean 'at all' and also 'go right ahead'? - wk 13
Disagreeing where disagreement is avoided
3 minHow do I say someone is wrong without causing a problem?
Conditions and register
weeks 14 to 187 pieces- wk 14
The ก็ you keep forgetting
3 minWhat is ก็ actually doing in there? - wk 15
The pre-verbal slot, and why its order is fixed
4 minWhere do คง, จะ, ต้อง and ไม่ go, and in what order? - wk 16
Three unrelated words spelled ที่
3 minIs ที่ a preposition, a relative pronoun, or a counter? - wk 16
การ and ความ: Thai's two noun-makers
3 minHow do you say 'happiness' when สุข is a verb? - wk 17
There is no neutral 'you'
3 minWhy does คุณ sound wrong even though it is the polite one? - wk 17
Leaving the pronoun out is the more native move
3 minHow do I avoid picking a pronoun at all? - wk 18
ค่า, and Thai's habit of naming what things cost
3 minWhy does every bill start with the same syllable?
Stacking and the passive
weeks 19 to 224 pieces- wk 19
Particle order is not free
3 minIs it นะครับ or ครับนะ? - wk 20
The passive Thai keeps for bad news
3 minWhy does โดน make everything sound like a misfortune? - wk 21
Thai puts the reason before the result
3 minWhy does เลย keep landing in the middle of my sentences? - wk 22
Why everything happens in the ใจ
4 minIs ใจ the heart or the mind?
Discourse and cleanup
weeks 23 to 264 pieces- wk 23
Filler is not failure
3 minHow do I buy time without saying euh? - wk 24
Why the word you know sounds wrong at speed
4 minI know these words. Why can I not hear them? - wk 25
Fossilisation, and the only thing that reverses it
4 minWhy does month 6 spend a week on errors I have had since month 1? - wk 26
What 360 hours actually bought you
4 minWhere does six months at two hours a day land?