เขา มี หมา ดำ ครับ

From Lesson 4:Adjective placement·Thai

Questions & Answers about เขา มี หมา ดำ ครับ

Why is it หมา ดำ (dog black) instead of ดำ หมา (black dog)?
In English, we put the describing word (adjective) before the noun. In Thai, it's the exact opposite! Describing words come after the noun they describe. So "black dog" translates directly to หมา (dog) followed by ดำ (black).
How do we know it means "a black dog" when there's no word for "a" or "one"?
Thai doesn't use articles like "a", "an", or "the". The word หมา just represents the general concept of a dog. Because Thai also doesn't change nouns to make them plural, เขา มี หมา ดำ could actually mean "He has a black dog" or "He has black dogs". We just figure it out from context!
If I want to say "she has a black dog", do I change เขา to a different word?
You don't have to! เขา is a very flexible pronoun that can mean "he", "she", or "they". The translation says "he" here, but if you were already talking about a woman, เขา มี หมา ดำ perfectly translates to "she has a black dog".
I'm a woman. Can I say this exact sentence?
Almost! You would need to change the very last word. ครับ is a polite particle used by male speakers. If you are female, you should swap it to your polite particle, ค่ะ, and say เขา มี หมา ดำ ค่ะ.

Learn เขา มี หมา ดำ 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