Possession (มี, ของ)

The Possessive Marker ของ

In Thai, you express ownership using the word ของ, which translates to "of" or "belonging to".

Unlike the English apostrophe-s ('s), Thai possession works exactly like the English word "of". The owned object comes first, followed by ของ, and then the owner.

• Structure: [Owned Object] + ของ + [Owner]

To ask "whose" something is, place the question word ใคร (who) in the owner slot.

To state who the object belongs to, simply replace ใคร with a pronoun, a title, or a name.

The Verb มี (To Have)

To talk about possessing something as an action ("to have"), use the verb มี. It follows the standard Subject + Verb + Object word order.

You will often see มี and ของ used together to describe what someone's relatives or friends possess, or to say that you have someone else's belongings.