Learning Thai Tenses with dâai ได้ - Book II

Book excerpt: Whether you are a beginner or an advanced learner, you will surely want to learn to speak Thai fluently. In order to do this, it is vital to use time words and tense markers correctly. The English term tense is also a handy way to talk about past, present and future activities in Thai, even though there are no tenses as such in the Thai language. When compared to English, Thai tenses are expressed very differently. It is often said that dâai ได้ denotes a past tense. However, it would be better not to think of dâai ได้ as the past tense marker since it can also be used to refer to present or future events. To help you speak Thai fluently the Book II includes: • complete and informative written examples • audio spoken by native speakers • highlights and explanations of dâai’s ได้ usage • sections of simple and easy to understand advice • useful hints and tips on dâai ได้ and the spoken Thai language Books I and II complement each other. However, each book has a different focus. In Book I, Secrets 1–14, we introduced dâai ได้ and explained where it should be placed in sentences. dâaiได้ has several grammatical functions; hence, it also has several meanings depending on the context. In Book II, Secrets 15–22, we focus on tenses. Have fun while you study them both; then, you will understand how Thais express themselves in everyday life!