ศาลาชุมนุม

[starscream]

could i use 'khao' for I in slang if

for example if someone asks me where did i go ? and i reply I went to drink beer with my friends.... could i answer

khao bpai gin beeyer gap pheuan pheuan

my question is can i use kao instead of phom for I

[jariya76]

This would be interesting. It's quite common to use เรา for I but เขา ??

[starscream]

it says in my book 'rao' can be used to say i for women and men when talking with close friends
it also says kao can be used for women as in informal way of saying i but it doesnt say men can use it

[Tommo]

I've never come across เขา to mean "I"

only thing I thought from the explaination is that women often use their name in place of "I" but men generally don't, but again, i've not heard of a girl with the name เขา so that wouldn't work

what book is this?

[starscream]

Its from the book Thai Reference Grammar The structure of spoken thai by james higbie & snea thinsan

It says the following :

I (said by women)

Chan - this is the most common , informal word for 'i' for women. the pronounciation is high/short informally, but rising/short in its written or formal form
dee-chan - more formal could be used, for example in a meeting where u dont know the people well
rao - an informal way to say 'I' for women
kao - informal for 'I' amongst close female friends
noo - 'I' for young women, teenagers and under. means mouse or rat sounds cute

I (said by men)
phom
chan - same as 'i' for women but more informal and intimate when used by men. used with children and intimate friends only
rao - informal and intimate
gan - for 'I' when talking with close male friends

its a really good book for advanced an intermediate

[J1Panda]

Thank you starscream for raising this one. This is something I also observed and confused when I was young hearing conversation between mum and dad

"KhaoH เค้า" or "KhaoR เขา" can be used as a pronoun for "I". From my observation, it is being used in informal conversation, commonly to your love ones, family, close friends. "KhaoH เค้า" can be used by both male and female speakers, and very common use by teenager/young people. As for "KhaoR เขา", I have not used it myself so just double check with my north eastern friend. She said it's not very common use in her village but she's heard some male speakers use it.

Hope this is useful.

[David and Bui]

In my wife's Phuket language, เค้า is used for first person singular and ตัว is used for second person singular, both between friends.

I think that pronouns, nouns of direct address, kinship terms, status tags and the like are among the most fun and interesting parts of the Thai language. Rules? What rules?

[starscream]

thanks a lot panda !!!

[JingJo Thames]

"KhaoH เค้า" or "KhaoR เขา" can be used as a pronoun for "I". From my observation, it is being used in informal conversation, commonly to your love ones, family, close friends. "KhaoH เค้า" can be used by both male and female speakers, and very common use by teenager/young people.

agreed. very interesting! and super common among my university friends.

and totally agree with David&Bui too!

โจ้

[mangkorn]

I think that pronouns, nouns of direct address, kinship terms, status tags and the like are among the most fun and interesting parts of the Thai language. Rules? What rules?

Agreed, and sometimes maddening, too: it can be very difficult to grasp who is talking or doing something, and to whom...

As for เค้า (or เขา), it is also used as an impersonal pronoun, in the case of what Jariya aptly called "filler, or stalling mechanism" - when the speaker is searching for the proper word to convey his/her meaning in conversation: ...เค้าเรียกว่าอะไร...

In English, that would be: "...what do you call it?" (or, "whaddya call it?") Spanish uses the passive voice, an equivalent of "what is it called?" - which is how I understand the Thai version. But they all mean the same thing.