Дієслова ไป і มา (іти і приходити)

ไป (pai) "to go" and มา (maa) "to come" are among the first Thai verbs you learn, and among the busiest. On their own they are verbs of motion; after another verb they show the direction of the action, away from the speaker or towards the speaker. English does the same job with words like "bring", "take", "back" and "in".

Romanisation used here: long vowels are doubled (aa, ii, ɔɔ) and the tone is marked on the first vowel letter - mid unmarked, low à, falling â, high á, rising ǎ; ph, th, kh are aspirated (with a puff of air, as in "pin"), p, t, k are not (as in "spin"), and j stands for จ.

Going and coming

• ไปตลาด (pai tà-làat) - go to the market. There is no word for "to": the place follows the verb.
• มานี่ (maa nîi) - come here.
• ไปทำงาน (pai tham-ngaan) - go to work; ไปซื้อของ (pai sʉ́ʉ khɔ̌ɔng) - go shopping. Verbs line up without "and" or "to".
• พรุ่งนี้ผมไปกระบี่ (phrûng-níi phǒm pai krà-bìi) - Tomorrow I'm going to Krabi.

Direction after a verb

เข้ามาเลยครับ (khâo maa ləəi khráp) "Come on in!" is what a shopkeeper calls from the door. เดี๋ยวกลับมานะ (dǐao klàp maa ná) "I'll be right back" is what the stall owner says as she leaves you in charge of the change.

Greetings and other uses

• ไปไหน? (pai nǎi) "Where are you off to?" and ไปไหนมา? (pai nǎi maa) "Where have you been?" are greetings, not questions that expect a full answer: ไปธุระมา (pai thú-rá maa) "Just out on an errand" is enough.
• มา + a period + แล้ว means "for (up to now)": อยู่กรุงเทพฯมาห้าปีแล้ว "have lived in Bangkok for five years".
• ไป after an adjective means "too": แพงไปหน่อย (phɛɛng pai nɔ̀i) "a bit too expensive", a useful phrase at the market.

For English speakers

Choose by where the speaker is. English says "I'm coming!" when you are heading to the person who called you; Thai usually says กำลังไป (kam-lang pai), because you are moving away from where you are. "Bring it here" points at you: เอามา. "Take it with you" points away: เอาไป.

Mistakes English speakers make

• *เอาน้ำไปให้ผม for "bring me some water" → เอาน้ำมาให้ผม: the water comes towards the speaker.
• Adding a word for "to" before the place: ไปตลาด is complete.
• Inserting "and" between verbs: "go and eat" is ไปกินข้าว.
• Hearing ไปไหนมา? as nosiness: it is small talk, and a vague answer is polite.