Breakdown of แม่ ทำ ซูชิ เป็น ครับ
ครับ
polite particle (male)
แม่
mother
ทำ
to do
เป็น
to know how to
ซูชิ
sushi
Questions & Answers about แม่ ทำ ซูชิ เป็น ครับ
I thought เป็น means "to be". Why does the translation say "knows how to"?
You are right that เป็น often means "to be" (for example, when stating your profession). However, when placed after an action, เป็น indicates a learned skill. It shows that someone "knows how to" or "can" do something because they learned how.
Why is เป็น at the end of the sentence instead of before the verb?
In Thai, words that express ability or skill usually come after the action and its object. While English says "knows how to make sushi", Thai uses the order: verb (ทำ) + object (ซูชิ) + skill word (เป็น).
Does แม่ mean "mothers in general" or "my mother"?
In this context, it almost certainly means "my mother". Thai speakers frequently drop possessive words like "my" when talking about their own close family members, as the context makes it obvious who they mean.
Since this lesson is about เคย (have ever), how would the meaning change if I used เคย instead of เป็น?
เป็น means she currently has the skill to make sushi. If you wanted to talk about her past experience instead, you would drop เป็น and put เคย before the verb: แม่เคยทำซูชิครับ. That would mean "Mother has made sushi before" (she has experienced doing it), but it wouldn't necessarily mean she mastered the skill!
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