In Thai, description of a static state or condition is commonly accomplished with a word called (in native Thai grammatical practice) คำวิเศษณ์, or a modifier. A modifier can function as either an adjective or a verb which describes a static state—without requiring an additional copula verb such as เป็น   /bpenM/ (to be).

Some linguists even suggest that, in Thai, there is no non-verbal adjective function at all—only modifiers. In this case, a translation of the first example could be, "The child is content and (is) smiling." English speakers may prefer to think of the modifier as being able to act as an "adjective," which gives the more concise, "The content child smiles."

A detailed presentation of this subject can be found in our reference article on modifiers, which is a translation of the relevant section from a classic Thai grammar textbook.

Below is a list of some of the modifiers in our online dictionary. For these words, we have opted to create a single, consolidated entry, and use English adjectives in this definition. The notation, "[is]" at the beginning of every definition is a reminder of the word's special personality. We have chosen this indicative form instead of the infinitive "to be" (which most Thai-English other dictionaries use) because it provides a better example of direct readability in the context of a translated sentence.