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Chai:

Fráenk fǒn tòk bāo bāo yàng ní phāsǎ āngkrìt phût wá àrāi

á¿Ã§¡ì ½¹µ¡àºÒæ ÍÂèÒ§¹ÕéÀÒÉÒÍѧ¡ÄɾٴÇèÒÍÐäÃ

Frank, in English, how would you describe this gently falling rain?

Frank:

phût wá “It’s drizzling.”

¾Ù´ÇèÒ “It’s drizzling.”

I’d say, “It’s drizzling.”

Chai:

thâ tòk nàk kwà ní ìk nòi lâ

¶éÒµ¡Ë¹Ñ¡¡ÇèÒ¹ÕéÍա˹èÍÂÅèÐ

What if it rains a little heavier than this?

Frank:

chà phût wâ “It’s sprinkling.” rǔe “It’s spitting.”

¨Ð¾Ù´ÇèÒ “It’s sprinkling.” ËÃ×Í “It’s spitting.”

I’d say “It’s sprinkling.” or “It’s spitting.”

Chai:

ô  láeo “It’s raining?” chái mûearài lâ

ÍéÍ áÅéÇ “It’s raining.” ãªéàÁ×èÍäÃÅèÐ

Ah, I see. And when do you say, “It’s raining”?

Frank:

mûea phût thǔeng fǒn tòk thûa thûa pāi  mâi bòk wâ nàk rǔe bāo

àÁ×è;ٴ¶Ö§½¹µ¡·ÑèÇæ ä» äÁèºÍ¡ÇèÒ˹ѡËÃ×ÍàºÒ

When we talk about rain in general, not being specific whether it’s heavy or light.

Chai:

láeo khām wâ “shower” lâ

áÅéǤÓÇèÒ “shower” ÅèÐ

And what about “shower”?

Frank:

chái mûea fǒn tòk pēn wēlā sân sân  khām ní chái kàp hìmá láe … kôn námkhǎeng thî tòk lōng mā mǔean fǒn dûai ná

ãªéàÁ×èͽ¹µ¡à»ç¹àÇÅÒÊÑ鹿 ¤Ó¹Õéãªé¡ÑºËÔÁÐ áÅÐ ¡é͹¹éÓá¢ç§·Õ赡ŧÁÒàËÁ×͹½¹´éǹÐ

It’s used to describe a short period of rain. It’s also used with snow and … with large balls of ice (hail) that falls like rain.

Chai:

… ǒ phāsǎ Thāi rîak wâ “lûk hèp”

ÍëÍ ÀÒÉÒä·ÂàÃÕ¡ÇèÒ ÅÙ¡àËçº

… Ah, we call that luk hep in Thai.

Frank:

rǒe  phǒm rúchàk khām mài wānní

àËÃÍ ¼ÁÃÙé¨Ñ¡¤ÓãËÁèÇѹ¹Õé

I see! I learned a new word today.

Chai:

bāngkhráng phǒm hěn khǎo chái khām wâ “It’s pouring.”

ºÒ§¤ÃÑé§¼ÁàËç¹à¢Òãªé¤ÓÇèÒ “It’s pouring.”

Sometimes I see the term “It’s pouring.”

Frank:

sàdāeng wâ fǒn kāmlāng tòk nàk

áÊ´§ÇèÒ½¹¡ÓÅѧµ¡Ë¹Ñ¡

That means it’s raining heavily.

Chai:

thâ tòk bàep mâi lūem hǔ lūem tā lâ

¶éÒµ¡áººäÁèÅ×ÁËÙÅ×ÁµÒÅèÐ

What if it’s an eye-shutting-ear-blocking rain?

Frank:

… phǒm khît wâ nâ chà trāng kàp “It’s raining cats and dogs.”

¼Á¤Ô´ÇèÒ¹èҨеç¡Ñº “It’s raining cats and dogs.”

Ah, in that case, I think that’s precisely what it means. But what about “It’s raining cats and dogs”?

Chai:

nâ sǒnchāi mâk bāngkhráng phǒm hěn sǎmnūan “It’s bucketing down.”

¹èÒʹã¨ÁÒ¡ ºÒ§¤ÃÑé§¼ÁàËç¹Êӹǹ “It’s bucketing down.”

Very interesting! Sometimes I see this idiom “It’s bucketing down”.

Frank:

nân kô mǔean kàp It’s raining cats and dogs.” láe “It’s pouring.”

¹Ñ蹡çàËÁ×͹¡Ñº “It’s raining cats and dogs.” áÅÐ “It’s pouring.”

That means the same as “It’s raining cats and dogs.” and “It’s pouring.”

Chai:

khòpkhūn mâk mâk Fráenk  tò pāi ní phǒm chà mâi chái “rain” yù khām dīao làeo

¢Íº¤Ø³ÁÒ¡æ á¿Ã§¡ì µèÍ仹Õé¼Á¨ÐäÁèãªé  “rain” ÍÂÙè¤Óà´ÕÂÇáÅéÇ

Thanks a lot, Frank. From now on, I’m going to use some of the other colourful expressions of “rain”.

Vocabulary check:

How do you say these words and phrases in Thai?

1.      It drizzles. = ………………

2.      It’s pouring. = ………………

3.      It’s an eye-shutting-ear-blocking rain. = ………………

4.      hail = ………………

5.      snow = ………………

6.      a shower = ………………

Answer keys:

1. fǒn tòk bāo bāo        2. fǒn kāmlāng tòk nàk 3. fǒn tòk mâi lūem hǔ lūem tā

4. lûk hèp                     5. hìmá                         6. fǒn tòk pēn wēlā sân sân


  • This lesson was prepared by Acharn Sunee Siidao, Educational Specialist.

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    Last modified: July 24, 2006
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  • Welcome back to a new adaptation of Phût Phāsǎ Thāi after our transitional Songkran break. As per the valued suggestions of our readers, the transliterations now follow the Royal Institute's system (http://www.royin.go.th/th/profile/index.php), which includes tone markers. In terms of content, the column will continue to provide you with everyday language on specific topics.

    òõ karakkadakhom òõôù   ( 25 July 2006)     

    Phût phāsǎ Thai


    Come rain or shine, well-prepared spectators refuse to be driven from their vantage points as they wait for the historic royal barge procession to begin near Rama VIII bridge. — TAWATCHAI KEMGUMNERD
    It's raining cats and dogs / fǒn tòk ìk khráng

    There are many ways to describe the falling rain. Some people would say: It's raining cats and dogs; it's coming down in buckets; it's pouring, it's just a shower, it's only a sprinkle, it's spitting rain, or it's drizzling!

    Using the correct word or phrase to describe the various types of rain can be mind-boggling to non-native speakers. As a Thai, the only word I use when talking about this weather phenomenon is simply "rain". Even after many years of living in America, using words like pour, spit or bucket to describe rain don't come to me naturally.

    Last week, we talked about how Thais describe different types of rain, as well as how to talk about rain in general. This week we'll look at how English speakers talk about rain.