Log inSign up

ฉัน　คิด　ว่า　หนังสือ　เล่ม　นี้　แพง　ค่ะ

ฉัน　คิด　ว่า　หนังสือ　เล่ม　นี้　แพง　ค่ะ
I think that this book is expensive.
From Lesson 53:Complement clauses (ว่า)·Thai

Questions & Answers about ฉัน　คิด　ว่า　หนังสือ　เล่ม　นี้　แพง　ค่ะ

Why do we use ว่า after คิด? Can I just say ฉัน คิด หนังสือ... like we sometimes drop 'that' in English?
In Thai, when you follow verbs of thinking or communicating (like คิด) with a whole new mini-sentence, you must connect them with ว่า. It translates to 'that' in 'I think that...', but unlike in English, you cannot drop it in Thai.
Why is the word order หนังสือ เล่ม นี้ instead of just หนังสือ นี้ for 'this book'?
When using pointing words like 'this' (นี้) with a noun, Thai requires a classifier word in the middle. The pattern is always Noun + Classifier + This. Since เล่ม is the specific classifier used for books, 'this book' must be ordered as หนังสือ เล่ม นี้.
The English translation says 'is expensive', but there is no word for 'is' before แพง. Why?
In Thai, adjectives like แพง (expensive) act like verbs on their own. The word แพง already carries the meaning 'to be expensive'. You never add 'to be' words like เป็น or คือ before an adjective.
Does the speaker of this sentence have to be female?
Yes! The polite ending particle ค่ะ is strictly used by female speakers, and the pronoun ฉัน (I) is most often used by women in polite conversation. A male speaker would change the sentence to ผม คิด ว่า หนังสือ เล่ม นี้ แพง ครับ.

Learn ฉัน　คิด　ว่า　หนังสือ　เล่ม　นี้　แพง　ค่ะ 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
Start learning Thai →