Indicating time in Thai is often considered simpler than in western languages because there are no verb conjugations. Instead, tense markers are used to indicate if the action is in the past, present or future.

Common tense markers are:

• Present: à¸?ำลัง – kamlang put before verbs, อยู่ – yuu put after verbs. See the post Verb tense: present for examples.
• Future: จะ – ja put before verbs. Other words are added to indicate how close in time the action is. See the post Verb tense: future for more detail and examples.
• Past: à¹?ล้ว – laew meaning “already”, put after verb to indicate action has already happened. Other words are added to indicate when the action happened and to form the past continuous tense. See the post Verb tense: past for more detail and examples.

อะไร – arai is used in most cases to ask “what?”.

Examples:

• นี่อะไร – nee arai What’s this?
• นั่นอะไร – nan arai What’s that?

Use เป็น – pen for problems:

• เป็นอะไร – pen arai What’s wrong?
• ขาเป็นอะไร – khaa pen arai What’s wrong with your leg?

For an event:

• เà¸?ิดอะไรขื้น – koet arai khuen What happened?
• ไม่มีอะไร – mai mee arai Nothing

Use with เรื่อง – rueang for a situation, matter or affair

• เà¸?ิดเรื่งอะไร – koet rueang arai What’s happening?/What’s the problem (situation)?

Include à¸?ัน – kan for something happening in a group

• เรื่องอะไรà¸?ัน – rueang arai kan What’s the matter (argument/fight)?