Once you have started to learn a few phrases in Thai and you are chatting with Thai people for the first time, you will need for sure some time phrases. The ones listed on this page will help you talk about events that happened in the past.
A moment ago. (meua gee nee)
Just now. (peung ja)
Recently. (meua rew rew nee)
This morning. (meua chow nee)
The words chao nee mean "this morning". Using meua shows the past.
This afternoon. (meua bai nee)
The words bai nee mean "this afternoon".
Last night. (meua keun)
The wordkeun means "night". You could also say meua keun nee or keun wan nee.
Yesterday. (meua wan)
It should be noted that wan here doesn't mean "day" but instead "yesterday". It is spelled differently and has a longer vowel sound. You might also hear people say "meua wan nee" or even "wan nee".
Two days ago. (song wun tee laew)
You can either use tee laew or just laew to show something that happened in the past. However, the second one shows that someone has been there for that period of time. If you say bai chiang mai song wan laew it means that they have gone to Chiang Mai for two days. If you say bai chiang mai song wan tee laew then that means they went to Chiang Mai two days ago.
The other day. (wun gorn)
Last week. (ar-tit tee laew)
Two weeks ago. (song ar-tit tee laew)
If you say bai sam ar-tit laew you change the meaning to "they have gone for 2 weeks now".
Three months ago. (sam deuan tee laew)
Four years ago. (see bee tee laew)
If someone asks you how long you have been in Thailand, say song bee laew to mean that you have been here two years already. However, if they ask you when you came to Thailand then answer see bee tee laew.
Many years ago. (lai bee tee laew)
You can also say lai wun tee laew or lai wun ma laew to mean "many days ago".
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