Language/Thai/Grammar/Gender

Thai Grammar - Gender

Hi Thai learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will focus on the gender aspect of the Thai language. Thai is a tonal language with a fascinating structure, and we will explore this in depth.

Introduction

In Thai, nouns do not have grammatical gender (masculine or feminine). However, there are other ways to express gender in the language, such as through the use of pronouns, classifiers, and particles. It is essential to understand these concepts since Thai sentences often do not contain subjects.

For instance, if you wanted to say, "She is a doctor," you would say "เธอเป็นหมอ (thooe bpen mor)," where เธอ (thooe) means "she" and เป็น (bpen) means "is."

In this lesson, we will dive deeper into Thai gender and introduce various examples.

Thai Pronouns

Thai pronouns are essential in illustrating gender. Unlike English, which distinguishes gender with different pronouns (he/him, she/her), Thai distinguishes gender with different words entirely. Here are the basic pronouns:

Thai	Pronunciation	English
ผม	phŏm	I (male only)
ฉัน	chăn	I (female only)
เขา	kăo	He/She/They (neutral and commonly used)

Thais recognize that not everyone identifies as male or female; hence, เขา (kăo) can refer to he/she/they.

Example:

• Person 1: ผมเคยไปเมืองนี้แล้ว (phŏm khiu bpai mueng nee laew) (I have been to this city before)
• Person 2: ฉันยังไม่ได้ไปเลย (chăn yang mai dai bpai loei) (I haven't gone yet)

Gender Classifiers

Gender classifiers act as a reference for the gender of the noun in question. There are several different classifiers in Thai, and the correct one to use depends on the noun's characteristics:

Thai	Pronunciation	English
คน	khon	a person (used for humans)
ชื่อ	chêu	name (used for people)
ตัว	dtua	a living creature, animal, or insect
เส้น	sen	a long, thin, flexible object (such as a rope, string, or worm)
ก้อน	kon	a lump or clump of a solid material (such as clay, wood, or rock)

For instance, the masculine classifier คน (khon) is used with masculine personal nouns (e.g., man, boy, son) whereas the feminine classifier หญิง (ying) is used with feminine personal nouns (e.g., woman, girl, daughter). To make it clearer, we provide an example below:

• Person 1: ผมเห็นเด็กผู้ชายเล่น (phŏm hen dek phu chai len) (I saw the boy play)
• Person 2: คนนี้เป็นคุณหญิงหรือคุณชาย (khon nee bpen khun ying reu khun chai) (Is this person a woman or a man?)

In some cases, when specifying gender is not crucial, the gender-neutral classifier ตัว (dtua) is used instead.

Gender Particles

Thai particles, also known as auxiliary words, are similar to classifiers in their gender references. They attach to nouns to express gender, and the most common ones are ค่ะ (khâ) and คะ (ká) for female speakers, and ครับ (kráp) andครั บ (kráp) for male speakers.

These particles are also used in informal situations where the speaker and the listener know each other well. As Thai culture is hierarchical and respects social status, it is essential to use the correct particle for the listener's gender and social status.

Example:

• Person 1: มีอะไรให้ช่วยไหมคะ (mee a-rai hai chûai mai ká) (May I help you? (female speaker))
• Person 2: ไม่เป็นไรครับ (mai bpen rai kráp) (It's okay. (male speaker))

Conclusion

In conclusion, Thai gender is not as simple as applying masculine or feminine to every noun. Thai speakers use pronouns, classifiers, and particles in their language to indicate gender effectively. To improve your Thai Grammar, you can also use the Polyglot Club website. Find native speakers and ask them any questions!

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➡ If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments section below.
➡ Feel free to edit this wiki page if you think it can be improved. 😎

Sources

• Thai Language
• Thai Pronouns
• Classifiers in Linguistics