เป็น is the verb that links two nouns: ผมเป็นครู, I am a teacher. It is also the verb for catching an illness, and that is not a coincidence or an idiom to memorise. เป็น marks a state you have entered and now belong to. A cold is a category you are temporarily a member of.
So you do not have a cold in Thai. You are one.
- เป็นหวัดpen wàt
to have a cold
- เป็นไข้pen kʰâj
to have a fever
- เป็นครูpen kʰruː
to be a teacher
same verb, and now it looks ordinary
ปวด and เจ็บ are not interchangeable
ปวด is a dull internal ache: head, stomach, back, teeth. It comes from inside and nothing was done to you.
เจ็บ is a sharp pain from an injury: something hit, cut, twisted or bitten. ปวดหัว is a headache. เจ็บหัว is having been hit on the head. A pharmacist will hear the difference immediately and hand you different things.
- ปวดหัวpùːat hǔːa
headache
- ปวดท้องpùːat tʰɔ́ːŋ
stomach ache
- เจ็บคอtɕèp kʰɔː
sore throat
- เจ็บเข่าtɕèp kʰàw
my knee hurts
the sort of pain you can point at the cause of
What you will be asked
เป็นอะไร, literally 'you are what'. It is the standard opening at a pharmacy counter and it is asking what is wrong, not who you are.
Answer with a verb, not a noun. เป็นหวัด or ปวดหัว is a complete reply. Reaching for the noun for the disease is the European instinct and it is the slower road to the medicine.
- เป็นอะไรpen ʔà.raj
what's wrong?