Dearer and nearer: comparison through กว่า
A Thai adjective does not change: "expensive" stays paeng however much you compare. The comparison is made by a separate word — กว่า, "than". It follows the adjective: แพง กว่า — "more expensive". For example: “ร้าน อาหาร ใกล้ กว่า” — The restaurant is nearer. A rule from the Thai course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
A Thai adjective does not change: "expensive" stays paeng however much you compare. The comparison is made by a separate word — กว่า (кваа), "than". It follows the adjective: แพง กว่า (пхэнг кваа) — "more expensive".
"Than" often stays in the head rather than in the phrase: ร้าน นี้ ใกล้ กว่า (ран ний клай кваа) — "this shop is nearer", and nobody says nearer than what. If the comparison needs to be named, the second item goes to the very end of the phrase.
"The most" is made by the pair ที่ สุด (ти сут) at the end: แพง ที่ สุด (пхэнг ти сут) — "the most expensive". It is the same thi as in the ordinals "first" and "second": a link that fastens everything together.
The mistake everybody makes: saying "more" with the single word mak. Mak means "very" and "a lot"; comparison goes only through kwa.
Table
| Adjective | With กว่า | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ใกล้ — near | ใกล้ กว่า | nearer |
| ไกล — far | ไกล กว่า | farther |
| ใหญ่ — big | ใหญ่ กว่า | bigger |
| แพง — expensive | แพง กว่า | more expensive |
By example
- ร้าน อาหาร ใกล้ กว่าран ахан клай квааThe restaurant is nearer
- ตลาด ไกล กว่าталат кхлай квааThe market is farther
- แพง ที่ สุดпхэнг ти сутThe most expensive
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
Dearer and nearer: how does it work in Thai?
A Thai adjective does not change: "expensive" stays paeng however much you compare. The comparison is made by a separate word — กว่า, "than". It follows the adjective: แพง กว่า — "more expensive".
What does it look like in a Thai example sentence?
“ร้าน อาหาร ใกล้ กว่า” (ран ахан клай кваа) — The restaurant is nearer. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.