Questions & Answers about เรา ต้อง ดูแล ตนเอง
I usually use ตัวเอง to mean "myself" or "oneself". Why does this sentence use ตนเอง?
ตนเอง is simply a slightly more formal or written version of the spoken word ตัวเอง. They mean exactly the same thing and are used in the exact same way. You will often see ตนเอง in articles, news, signs, or formal advice.
In English, the word changes to "ourselves" because the subject is "we". Does ตนเอง change if the subject changes?
No, Thai words for "oneself" do not change to match the subject. ตนเอง (and its casual twin ตัวเอง) stays exactly the same whether it translates to "myself", "yourself", "himself", or "ourselves". You just rely on the subject of the sentence—in this case, เรา (we)—to know who is being referred to.
I know ดู means "to look". What does the แล part of ดูแล mean?
แล also means "to look" or "to watch", though it is an older word that isn't used much on its own in everyday modern Thai. Thai frequently combines two words with similar meanings to form a new, broader concept. Here, combining "look" and "watch" gives you ดูแล, which means "to take care of" or "to look after".
Since เรา is often used casually to mean "I", could this sentence also mean "I must take care of myself"?
Yes, absolutely! Without context, เรา can mean either "we" or "I". However, because this sentence uses the more formal ตนเอง, it sounds a bit like a general proverb or a piece of public advice ("We must take care of ourselves"). If someone were just saying "I must take care of myself" to a friend, they would almost certainly use the casual forms and say เราต้องดูแลตัวเอง.
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