25. (b) In English, we must show the gender for third person singular pronouns (he, she, it), but not for the first person singular pronoun (I). In Thai there is no he-she-they distinction but I has separate translations for men and women:
| phǒm | I (male speaker) |
| dichǎn | I (female speaker) |
| khǎw | he, she, they |
For a female Thai speaker to refer to herself by the masculine pronoun (phǒm) I instead of the feminine I (dichǎn) would be as great a blunder—as to refer to an English speaker's mother as he. (There is a distinction betweenhe-she-they and it, but the latter is rarely used. (khǎw) he,she,they: (man) it.)
26. (c) English sentences must show the time of an action (goes, went, will go, etc.), while Thai sentences are often noncommittal in this respect.
| kháw paj talàat | He goes (is going, went) to the market. |
| phǒm maj chɔ̂ɔp | I (don't, didn't) like it. |
| mii thahaǎn jùu máj | (Are, were) there soldiers there? |
| kháw khuj kan | They converse(d). |
When time is indicated in a Thai sentence, it is sometimes shown by the choice of a sentence particle which has no direct relation at all to the verb.
| paj rýplàaw | Did you go? |
| paj máj | Do you (want to) go? |
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