Questions & Answers about หมา โดน คน ตี
How does the passive voice work in this sentence?
In Thai, the passive voice is usually used for negative or unpleasant events. The word โดน is used to show that someone or something suffered an action. The structure here is [Receiver] + โดน + [Doer] + [Action]. So, the dog (หมา) suffered a person (คน) hitting (ตี) it.
Can I leave out the word คน if I don't know who hit the dog?
Yes! You can simply say หมาโดนตี (The dog got hit). Just like in English, Thai passive sentences don't need to include the doer if they are unknown or unimportant.
Could I use ถูก instead of โดน here?
Yes, ถูก is another word used for the passive voice and it would mean the exact same thing. However, โดน is much more common in everyday spoken Thai, while ถูก sounds a bit more formal or written.
Why don't we use a word for 'by' before the person?
Thai passive structures with โดน don't need a preposition like 'by'. The sentence pattern itself tells us that the noun directly after โดน is the one doing the action. Adding a word for 'by' here would actually sound unnatural.