Yesterday, now, later: time without forms
The Thai verb does not change for tense: pai is "I go" and "I went" alike. Time is named by words, and there are three main ones. For example: “พรุ่ง นี้ ผม จะ ไป ตลาด” — Tomorrow I will go to the market. A rule from the Thai course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
The Thai verb does not change for tense: pai is "I go" and "I went" alike. Time is named by words, and there are three main ones.
จะ (ча) — the future: cha pai — "I will go". It stands before the verb and touches nothing else. กำลัง (камланг) — in progress right now: kamlang kin — "I am eating (this minute)". แล้ว (лаэо) — a result: pai laeo — "has already gone". It is also the "already" of "the shop is closed already" and of the answer pho laeo.
Yesterday and tomorrow are time words: muea wan and phrung nii, familiar from the first lessons. The verb does not change with them at all: "yesterday I go to the market" is correct Thai.
The table below is a word list, not a set of verb forms. Change the time word as you like: the verb stays the same.
Table
| When | Word | Reading | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| future | จะ | cha | จะ ไป — I will go |
| right now | กำลัง | kamlang | กำลัง กิน — eating now |
| already happened | แล้ว | laeo | ไป แล้ว — has already gone |
| yesterday | เมื่อวาน | muea wan | เมื่อวาน ไป — went yesterday |
By example
- พรุ่ง นี้ ผม จะ ไป ตลาดпхрунг ний пхом ча пай талатTomorrow I will go to the market
- ผม กำลัง กินпхом камланг кинI am eating (right now)
- เขา ไป แล้วкхао пай лаэоHe has already left
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
How to say future tense in Thai?
จะ — the future: cha pai — "I will go". It stands before the verb and touches nothing else. กำลัง — in progress right now: kamlang kin — "I am eating (this minute)". แล้ว — a result: pai laeo — "has already gone". It is also the "already" of "the shop is closed already" and of the answer pho laeo.
Past tense in Thai language?
The Thai verb does not change for tense: pai is "I go" and "I went" alike. Time is named by words, and there are three main ones.
Thai time words?
The Thai verb does not change for tense: pai is "I go" and "I went" alike. Time is named by words, and there are three main ones.
What does laeo mean in Thai?
จะ — the future: cha pai — "I will go". It stands before the verb and touches nothing else. กำลัง — in progress right now: kamlang kin — "I am eating (this minute)". แล้ว — a result: pai laeo — "has already gone". It is also the "already" of "the shop is closed already" and of the answer pho laeo.
What does it look like in a Thai example sentence?
“พรุ่ง นี้ ผม จะ ไป ตลาด” (пхрунг ний пхом ча пай талат) — Tomorrow I will go to the market. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.