Breakdown of นักสืบ กำลัง หา ว่า ใคร จ้าง เขา มา
เขา
he, she, they
มา
to come
ใคร
who
หา
to look for / to go see / visit (a person)
กำลัง
in the process of
ว่า
that (conjunction)
นักสืบ
the detective
จ้าง
to hire
Questions & Answers about นักสืบ กำลัง หา ว่า ใคร จ้าง เขา มา
How does ว่า work to make this an indirect question?
The word ว่า acts as a linking word connecting the main action หา (to search/find) to the question word ใคร (who). Instead of asking a direct question like 'Who hired him?', it embeds the question into the sentence to mean 'searching for (the answer to) who hired him.'
I learned before that หาว่า means 'to accuse'. Is that what it means here?
That is a great observation, as หาว่า followed by a statement usually means 'to accuse.' However, because it is followed by the question word ใคร (who) in this sentence, the words act separately based on our current grammar rule. It is the verb หา (to search) followed by the linking word ว่า, meaning the detective is 'looking for (the answer to) who...' rather than accusing someone.
Why is the word มา (to come) at the very end of the sentence?
In Thai, มา is often used as a directional particle to show that an action is directed toward the current situation or speaker. While English just says 'hired him,' adding มา gives the nuance of 'hired him to come here' or 'brought him into this current scenario.'
Why isn't there a word for 'trying to' in the Thai sentence?
The English translation uses 'is trying to find out' to make it sound natural, but the Thai sentence literally says 'is searching' or 'is looking for' (กำลังหา). The continuous action of 'searching' marked by กำลัง naturally implies the ongoing effort of 'trying to find out' in Thai.
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