Questions & Answers about แมว ไม่ กิน ข้าว
Where exactly do I put ไม่ (mai) to make the sentence negative?
You place ไม่ directly in front of the verb you want to negate. Here, it goes right before the verb กิน (eat) to make ไม่กิน (do not eat).
Why is แมว translated as "cats" (plural) when there is no plural marker?
In Thai, nouns don't change to show plural. แมว can mean one cat or many cats. Because this sentence is stating a general fact about the animal, it translates best as the plural "cats" in English.
Does ข้าว (khao) literally mean "rice" here, or just "food" in general?
It can mean both! ข้าว literally means "rice", but rice is such a staple in Thailand that the phrase กินข้าว (eat rice) is the everyday way to say "to eat a meal" or "to eat food".
How do we know this means "do not eat" instead of "did not eat"?
Thai verbs don't change for past or present tense. Without a specific time word added to the sentence (like "yesterday"), a basic sentence like this is understood as a general fact or present habit.