Breakdown of น้องสาว ไอ บ่อย อาจจะ แพ้ แมว ค่ะ
ค่ะ
polite particle (female)
แมว
cat
น้องสาว
younger sister
บ่อย
often
ไอ
to cough
อาจจะ
might / maybe
แพ้
to be allergic to / to lose
Questions & Answers about น้องสาว ไอ บ่อย อาจจะ แพ้ แมว ค่ะ
Where exactly does อาจจะ go in a sentence to express probability?
อาจจะ (might/maybe) acts as a helping verb and is placed directly before the main verb of the action it modifies. In this sentence, it goes right before แพ้ (to be allergic). Even though the sentence connects two ideas (coughing and being allergic), อาจจะ simply attaches to the front of the second verb phrase to show that the second action is a probability.
I learned that แพ้ means "to lose" (like in a game). Why does it mean "allergic" here?
You remembered correctly! แพ้ literally means "to lose" or "to be defeated by". When used with a food, animal, or medicine, it means your immune system is "defeated by" it, which is how Thai expresses being allergic. So แพ้ แมว literally means "losing to cats"!
Why is there no word for "she" right before อาจจะ?
Thai frequently drops pronouns when it is already obvious who we are talking about from the context. Since น้องสาว (younger sister) is established as the subject at the beginning of the sentence, adding a pronoun like เขา (she) before อาจจะ is understood but not necessary.
In English we say "often coughs," but here it is ไอ บ่อย. Is this word order a strict rule?
Yes, in Thai, adverbs of frequency like บ่อย (often) generally come after the verb they describe, not before it. You will usually see them directly after the verb or at the very end of the phrase. So you must say ไอ บ่อย (coughs often).
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