ว่า: said that
Report what someone said or thought with ว่า.
ว่า is everywhere in Thai, but on its own it carries almost no meaning. Its job is to attach a whole clause to a verb. บอกว่า means said that, and คิดว่า means think that. What follows is an ordinary sentence, and nothing inside it changes.
The second half is built by the usual rules, as if it stood on its own.
I think this food is tasty.
He said he'd come tomorrow.
The person coming isn't named again: the subject is clear from the first half.
I heard this shop has closed.
ได้ยินว่า is like I heard that: it passes on news without naming the source.
There's no tense shift. In English, will often becomes would in reported speech; in Thai the time word stays inside the second half and belongs only to it. เขาบอกว่าจะมา means he said he'd come, and เขาบอกว่ามาแล้ว means he said he'd already come. The verb บอก is the same in both. Time words have their own topic.
Verbs followed by ว่า
- คิดว่าkít-wâa
think that
an opinion or a guess
- บอกว่าbɔ̀ɔk-wâa
say that, tell
telling someone something
- รู้ว่าrúu-wâa
know that
- เข้าใจว่าkâo-jai-wâa
understand that
- ได้ยินว่าdâi-yin-wâa
hear that
news or rumour
- ถามว่าtǎam-wâa
ask
followed by the whole question
- หวังว่าwǎng-wâa
hope that
A question inside a sentence looks the same as a question on its own. The word order doesn't change, and the particle ไหม stays at the end of its clause. The same goes for question words: ไม่รู้ว่าอยู่ที่ไหน means I don't know where it is. Questions themselves have their own topic.
He asked if I was hungry.
Inside is exactly the question that was asked: ผมหิวไหม. English adds if; Thai keeps ว่า and ไหม.
I don't know where he is.
English has no that here, but Thai still uses ว่า.
I want you to come.
After อยาก the linking word is ให้, not ว่า: ผมอยากว่า isn't said.
In English you can drop that: I think he's right. In Thai ว่า is usually kept after verbs like these. The tricky part is hearing it. In fast speech ว่า blends into the verb and sounds like part of it, so it's easier to learn คิดว่า and บอกว่า as single units.
Common mistake
ว่า follows verbs of saying and thinking, where the next clause reports something. A wish or a request is linked with ให้ instead: I want you to come is ผมอยากให้คุณมา, and ผมอยากว่า isn't correct. ให้ has its own topic, “ให้: give, do for and let”.
Practise
Kai says
Each consonant has a word in its name. I'm ก, named with ไก่, chicken. The word helps you identify the letter when another letter has the same sound.