ที่

Thai

Etymology

From Proto-Tai *diːᴮ, possibly from Middle Chinese 地 (MC dijH). Cognate with Lao ທີ່ (thī), Northern Thai ᨴᩦ᩵, Lü ᦑᦲᧈ (tii¹), Shan တီႈ (tīi), Ahom 𑜄𑜣 (tī), Zhuang dih. Outside Tai-Kadai: compare Proto-Mon-Khmer *tiʔ ~ tiiʔ ~ tiəʔ (“that yonder”), Mon တေံ (teʔ, “that”), Khmer ទី (tii), Vietnamese thì (“then, which, to be”). Compare Malay di.

Pronunciation

Preposition

ที่ • (tîi)

1. at; to; on the site of; within; amidst; at the location of.
2. for; during; at the time of.

Pronoun

ที่ • (tîi)

1. that; which; that which; who; whom.

   ลูกคนที่สาม

   lûuk kon tîi sǎam

   the third child.

   เขาเป็นคนที่จ่าย

   kǎo bpen kon tîi jàai

   He is the one who paid.

   ขอโทษที่เป็นแบบนี้

   kɔ̌ɔ-tôot tîi bpen bɛ̀ɛp níi

   I'm sorry for being like this.

   เราดีใจที่หน้าร้อนผ่านไปแล้ว

   rao dii-jai tîi nâa rɔ́ɔn pàan bpai lɛ́ɛo

   We're pleased (that) the hot season is over.

   ร่ำลาเจ้าของที่ห่วงใย แล้วมุ่งหน้าเข้าสู่หมู่บ้าน

   râm-laa jâo-kɔ̌ɔng tîi hùuang-yai · lɛ́ɛo mûng-nâa kâo sùu mùu-bâan

   After bidding farewell to the worried owner, it headed towards the village.

2. where; when.

Prefix

ที่

1. (creating a noun from a verb) the person who.

   ที่ปรึกษา

   tîi bprʉ̀k-sǎa

   advisor.

2. (creating a noun from a verb) an object pertaining to which; that which; an object for; for the purpose of; equipment or gear for a purpose.

   ที่เปิดขวด

   tîi bpə̀ət kùuat

   bottle opener.

3. (creating a noun from a verb) a concept or idea pertaining to which.
4. (creating a noun from a verb) a place or location pertaining to which; a place to do something.
5. (creating a noun from a verb) an event, time, duration, or occurrence pertaining to which.
6. used with cardinal numbers to create ordinals. (Compare Chinese 第 (dì).)

   บทที่หนึ่ง

   bòt tîi nʉ̀ng

   lesson one / the first lesson

7. used to indicate comparisons or ordering.

Particle

ที่ • (tîi)

1. placed after an adjective to indicate that it applies particularly and specifically to its preceding noun. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
2. used in the pattern “เป็น (bpen) + ที่ + verb” to make an adjective from a verb.

Noun

ที่ • (tîi)

1. land; place; area; seat (booking and reservations); site; location.
2. position; office.

See also

Classifier

ที่ • (tîi)

1. Classifier for places, locations, servings. ⇒ all nouns using this classifier

See also

Derived terms

References