THAI LANGUAGE LESSONS
L8(a) - 'arai' - What?
'arai' - is the Thai word for 'what'. Like most Thai question words, it usually comes at the end of a sentence.
New Vocabulary:
| cheu | name |
Let's look at some of examples:
nee arai ? - what is this?
tam arai ? - what are you doing?
cheu arai krup? - what
is your name?
cheu somchai krup - my name
is Somchai
Easy! Now we will look at the slightly confusing way that 'arai' can also be used to mean 'anything'.
'mai tam arai' - I'm not doing anything. This is one way to reply to the question 'tam arai?' By putting the negative 'mai' at the front of the statement it becomes 'I'm not doing what' or to translate it into better English, 'I am not doing anything.'
'mai mee arai' - I don't have what; again to translate it into better English 'I don't have anything.'
Idiom
'arai gor dai' - Whatever; 'gor dai' can roughly be translated as 'okay' but often with a feel of indifference. 'arai gor dai' can therefore be roughly translated as 'what okay' and is used in the same way we use 'whatever' as in 'I am not really bothered'.
