Talking About Future Actions in Thai - Grammar

Lesson Transcript

Let's look at the sentence pattern.

Do you remember how the character said,

"I'm going to Phuket with my friends."

หนูจะไปภูเก็ตกับเพื่อนๆค่ะ (nǔu jà bpai phuu-gèt gàp phûuean-phûuean khâ.)

This sentence follows the pattern here:

Subject + จะ + (Verb + Object) + (time/place)

Subject + jà + (Verb + Object) + (time/place)

"I will…"

In Thai, when you want to say what you will do in the future, you can use this pattern.

จะ (jà) means "will." You put it after the subject and before the action.

It is your clue that the sentence is about the future!

Let's see how the line from the dialogue uses the pattern.

หนูจะไปภูเก็ตกับเพื่อนๆค่ะ (nǔu jà bpai phuu-gèt gàp phûuean-phûuean khâ.)

"I'm going to Phuket with my friends."

Let's break it down:

หนู (nǔu) is the subject, meaning "I" (used by a younger female speaker),

จะไป (jà bpai) is the future expression, meaning "will go."

ภูเก็ต (phuu-gèt) is the destination, Phuket.

กับเพื่อนๆ (gàp phûuean-phûuean) means "with friends."

And finally, ค่ะ (khâ) is the polite ending particle used by female speakers.

So altogether:

หนูจะไปภูเก็ตกับเพื่อนๆค่ะ (nǔu jà bpai phuu-gèt gàp phûuean-phûuean khâ)

"I'm going to Phuket with my friends."

We can see this pattern in another line from the dialogue as well. Listen to this:

หนูจะไปเรียนภาคฤดูร้อนที่มหาวิทยาลัยที่นั่นค่ะ

(nǔu jà bpai riian phâak-rúe-duu-ráawn thîi má-hǎa-wít-thá-yaa-lai thîi-nân khâ.)

"I will attend summer classes at the university there."

Let's break it down.

หนู (nǔu), the subject, meaning "I" (used by a younger female speaker),

จะไป (jà bpai), the future marker จะ (jà) meaning "will" and the verb ไป (bpai) meaning "go,"

เรียน (riian), the verb meaning "study,"

ภาคฤดูร้อน (phâak-rúe-duu-ráawn), meaning "summer session,"

ที่มหาวิทยาลัย (thîi má-hǎa-wít-thá-yaa-lai), meaning "at the university,"

ที่นั่น (thîi-nân), meaning "there,"

ค่ะ (khâ), the polite particle used by female speakers.

And that's how we use this pattern to talk about future plans in Thai!

In everyday Thai, speakers sometimes leave out จะ (jà) when the time or context already makes it clear the action is in the future.

For example:

พรุ่งนี้ไปกรุงเทพ (phrûng-níi bpai grung-thêep) — "Tomorrow I'll go to Bangkok."

Even without จะ (jà), the word พรุ่งนี้ (phrûng-níi), "tomorrow" already shows it's a future action.

However, as beginners, you should practice using จะ (jà) consistently at first, because it makes the meaning clear and helps you form correct word order.

Later, you'll notice native speakers drop it in casual conversation when the meaning is obvious.

Now let's look at some speaking examples.

ผมจะไปเยี่ยมคุณปู่ที่กรุงเทพครับ (phŏm jà bpai yîam khun-bpùu thîi grung-thêep khráp)

"I will visit my grandfather in Bangkok."

Can you see how the pattern applies here?

Let's break it down.

ผม (phŏm) is the subject, meaning "I" for a male speaker.

จะไปเยี่ยม (jà bpai yîam) means "will go visit."

คุณปู่ (khun-bpùu) means "grandfather."

ที่กรุงเทพ (thîi grung-thêep) means "in Bangkok."

And ครับ (khráp) is the polite particle for male speakers.

The whole sentence follows the same pattern:

Subject + จะ + verb and object + place

So again, the sentence is:

ผมจะไปเยี่ยมคุณปู่ที่กรุงเทพครับ (phŏm jà bpai yîam khun-bpùu thîi grung-thêep khráp)

"I will visit my grandfather in Bangkok."

Here's another example

ผมจะใช้คอมพิวเตอร์เครื่องนั้นช่วงวันหยุดพักร้อนครับ (phŏm jà chái khawm-phiú-dtôoe khrûueang nán chûuang wan-yùt-phák-ráawn khráp)

"I will use that computer during the summer holidays."

Let's try one more,

ดิฉันจะเก็บกระเป๋าไปเที่ยวค่ะ (dì-chăn jà gèp grà-bpǎo bpai thîiao khâ)

"I will pack my bag for the trip."

ดิฉันจะเก็บกระเป๋าไปเที่ยวค่ะ (dì-chăn jà gèp grà-bpǎo bpai thîiao khâ)

"I will pack my bag for the trip."

Now you know how to talk about future actions in Thai.

...and now let's move on to the practice.

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