There're basically two popular words to express "want to" in Thai. The first one is yaak ja which means will want and the second one is dtong gaan which means "want".

Do you still remember the word ja which means will in Thai? Well, by putting a ja after Yaak (want) you will get Yaak ja (will want).

How to express "will want" using yaak ja (ÍÂÒ¡ ¨Ð)

Here are some examples that use yaak ja to express "will want" in Thai:

Pom yaak ja rong pleng. I will want to sing.

Pom yaak ja pai dtoh giaao. I will want to go to Tokyo (Japan).

Pom yaak ja seuu maa. I will want to buy a dog.

In the 1st example you will notice a new Thai word, rong pleng. Rong pleng means to sing in Thai.

In the 2nd example, the expression yaak ja pai means will want to go. Dtoh giaao is how Tokyo sounds in Thai language.

In the 3rd example, the expression yaak ja seuu, means will want to buy. Maa means dog.

As you can see, whenever you will want to do something, all you need to do is to put a corresponding verb right after the word yaak ja.

Yaak ja rong pleng (will want to sing)

Yaak ja pai (will want to go)

Yaak ja seuu (will want to buy)

Simple, right? :-)

How to express "want to" using dtong gaan (µéͧ ¡ÒÃ)

Now, the second popular thai word for expressing "want" is dtong gaan. The only difference between yaak ja and dtong gaan is the latter means "want" while the former means "will want".

Again, here are some examples to give you a better picture on how to use the Thai word dtong gaan:

Koon dtong gaan arai kha? What do you want?

Koon dtong gaan tao rai? How many do you want?

Pom mai dtong gaan arai. I don't want anything.

Pom dtong gaan seeu daeng-gwaa. I want to buy a cucumber.

In the last example, you will notice a new Thai word, daeng-gwaa. Daeng-gwaa means cucumber in Thai.

As you can see, the usage of dtong gaan is almost the same as yaak ja. Just put the corresponding verb right after dtong gaan to express what you want.

Dtong gaan arai (want what?)

Dtong gaan tao-rai (want how much?)

Mai Dtong gaan arai (want nothing)

Dtong gaan seeu (want to buy)

Before I wrap this lesson up, see if you can express the phrase, "I want to learn Thai" in Thai. You can use the word rian (to learn) and passa Thai (Thai language).

Pom yaak jai rian passa Thai. I will want to learn thai.

Pom dtong gaan rian passa Thai. I want to learn Thai.

Rippa Sama
http://MyThaiSensei.com