Daily Thai Confidence — Using สำคัญ (sǎm-khān)

Adjective: สำคัญ (sǎm-k^hān)
Meaning: is important / is significant / is essential / is crucial

In this Thai lesson, we learn how to use the adjective สำคัญ (sǎm-k^hān), which means ‘is important,’ ‘is significant,’ ‘is essential,’ or ‘is crucial.’ It describes something that has value, priority, or influence. It can be used for information, people, events, rules, responsibilities, and decisions.

The typical structure usually follows the pattern: noun + สำคัญ (sǎm-k^hān).

For examples (ตัวอย่างเช่น — dtūa-^awyàang chên)

เรื่องนี้สำคัญมาก

rêuang née sǎm-k^hān mâak
Literal: Matter this important very.
This matter is very important.

The noun เรื่อง (rêuang) means ‘story,’ ‘matter,’ ‘issue,’ or ‘topic.’ Its meaning changes slightly depending on context, but the core idea is ‘a subject or thing being talked about.’

เวลาเป็นสิ่งสำคัญ

wāy-lāa bpēn sìng sǎm-k^hǎn
Literal: Time to be thing important.
Time is an important thing.

The noun เวลา (wāy-lāa) means ‘time.’ It refers to clock time, duration, moments when something happens. For ‘occasion’ or ‘instance,’ use ครั้ง (k^hráng).

การเรียนสำคัญสำหรับอนาคต

gāan-rīan sǎm-k^hān sǎm-^hràb à-nāa-k^hód
Literal: Education important for future.
Education is important for the future.

The preposition สำหรับ (sǎm-^hràb) means ‘for’ or ‘for the purpose of.’ It is used to show the purpose of a noun — noun + สำหรับ (sǎm-^hràb) + noun / personal pronoun.

อาหารเช้าสำคัญต่อสุขภาพ

āa-hǎan-cháo sǎm-k^hān dtàw sùk-k^hà-p^hâab
Literal: Food-morning important to health.
Breakfast is important for health.

The preposition ต่อ (dtàw) means ‘in relation to,’ ‘with respect to,’ or ‘for the benefit of.’ It is used when expressing a relationship between two things — X is important for  Y.

Homework (การบ้าน — gāan-bâan)

Practise putting your newly learned Thai word into a sentence by translating the following sentences below.

1. This information is important for the students.
2. Health is more important than money.
3. This meeting is very important.
4. It is important to study Thai every day.
5. This decision is important for the future.

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