UTILITY WORDS: กำลัง VS.

กำร

One of the most confusing issues for beginning Thai language students
is how to conjugate/create “-ing” words; running, walking, eating…
Before we dive into the Thai-specific concepts, it would be helpful to first
make sure these concepts are understood in English.
What we are really talking about is the difference between a verb and a
gerund; do you know the difference?

Present Participle
Verbs are easy; let’s be honest. A verb is an action word. For

example: วิง
่ /wîng/ means “to run.” When you want to take a verb and
make it into an -ing word (called a “present participle” in grammatical

terms) you simply prefix the verb with กำลัง /gam-lang/.

So, if you want to use the word “running” in a sentence, you put กำลัง in

front of วิง
่ and get กำลังวิง่ — running! Here is a very simple sentence
as an example:

ผมกำลังวิง่ กลับบ้ำน
/pǒm gam-lang-wîng glàp bâan/
(I [male speaker] running return home)
I am running home.

Gerunds
1
A gerund, simply put, is when a verb is used as a noun. There are
many cases when you use a verb to indicate the act of doing
something as a subject rather than as a verb. In these cases, use

precede the verb with กำร /gaan/ to create the gerund. Here is an
example:

กำรวิง่ เป็ นกำรออกกำลังกำยทีด

่ ม
ี ำก
/gaan-wîng bpen gaan-ɔ̀ɔk-gam-lang-gaai tî i dii mâak/
(running exercise “to be” good very/much)
Running is very good exercise.
I apologize if that last one messed with your head a little bit, but I
think it’s a very good example. This sentence actually contains one

of each in it — กำลังวิง
่ (running)
and กำรออกกำลังกำย (exercise). The first is a present participle,
and the second a gerund.
If you can wrap your head around when a verb should be treated as
a verb (present participle) or as a noun (a gerund) it will make your
life a lot easier. We take these concepts for granted in English by
just saying “running” and the context being inherently understood.
We don’t really get that luxury in Thai, however; but with practice it
will become easy and apparent.
Good luck!