Breakdown of เมื่อวาน เรา ได้ ดู เต่า และ ปู ครับ
ครับ
polite particle (male)
ดู
to watch (everyday)
เมื่อวาน
yesterday
และ
and
เรา
we
ได้
got to (do)
ปู
crab
เต่า
turtle
Questions & Answers about เมื่อวาน เรา ได้ ดู เต่า และ ปู ครับ
Why is ได้ placed before the verb ดู here?
Placing ได้ before a verb indicates that you "got to" do something or had the opportunity to do it, which also naturally marks it as a past event. If it were placed after the verb (ดูได้), it would describe your physical ability to look at them. In this sentence, ได้ดู means you "got to see" or "had the chance to watch" the animals.
The English translation says "see", but isn't ดู usually "look" or "watch"? Why not use เห็น?
You are right that เห็น means to physically "see" or notice something, often by chance without trying. ดู implies active intention, like "look at" or "watch". Saying ได้ดูเต่า implies you were intentionally spending time watching the turtles—perhaps at a zoo or an aquarium—rather than just spotting them randomly.
How would I use this lesson's grammar point, มัวแต่, in this sentence?
You would swap out the opportunity word ได้ and place มัวแต่ right before the verb ดู. The sentence would become เมื่อวานเรามัวแต่ดูเต่าและปู (Yesterday we were so preoccupied with watching the turtle and the crab...). This implies you were so engrossed in watching the animals that you neglected to do something else you were supposed to do!
The pronoun เรา is translated as "we", but I often hear it used for "I". How do we know which one it is?
เรา is the standard, textbook word for "we", but in casual, everyday speech, many speakers use it to mean "I" to sound friendly, soft, or informal. Because Thai often drops pronouns anyway, you have to rely entirely on context to tell the difference. If the speaker went to the aquarium alone, เรา means "I"; if they went with friends, it means "we".
Learn เมื่อวาน เรา ได้ ดู เต่า และ ปู ครับ and more in Thai
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free