Breakdown of เขา เริ่ม ทุบ ตึก นี้ เมื่อไร คะ
เขา
he, she, they
ตึก
building
คะ
female question particle / polite particle (female)
นี้
this (modifier)
เริ่ม
to start
เมื่อไร
when
ทุบ
to demolish / to smash
Questions & Answers about เขา เริ่ม ทุบ ตึก นี้ เมื่อไร คะ
Why is เขา translated as "they" instead of "he" or "she" in this sentence?
While you usually see เขา used for "he" or "she", in spoken Thai it is also the standard way to say "they". Here, it refers to an unspecified group of people, like the demolition crew or the city planners.
Does the word ทุบ specifically mean "to demolish"?
The core meaning of ทุบ is actually "to smash", "to pound", or "to hit with a heavy object". When you pair it with a word for a building like ตึก, it becomes the everyday way to say "demolish" or "tear down" by smashing it to pieces.
Why doesn't the sentence start with the question word เมื่อไร like in English?
In Thai, question words usually stay in the same spot where the answer would go, rather than moving to the front of the sentence. Since you are asking about the time an action happened, you state the whole event first (เขา เริ่ม ทุบ ตึก นี้) and put เมื่อไร at the end.
How would I use เห็นว่า (I heard that) from this lesson to answer this specific question?
You would place เห็นว่า right at the beginning of your response to show it is hearsay. For example, you could answer เห็นว่า เริ่ม ทุบ เดือน ที่ แล้ว which means "I heard that they started smashing it last month".
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