How to Use Adverbs that Mean "Very" in the Myanmar Language

Adverb "Very" in Myanmar

Janpha Thadphoothon


For a new beginner who is interested in learning to read and speak Myanmar, knowing how to use an adverb is an important step in his or her language acquisition.

One usage has captured my attention and I would like to share it with other learners. This is the use of an adverb to denote or signify a degree of a verb or adjective.

In English, we say 'very beautiful ' or 'very hot'. We know that the adverb 'very' is placed in front of the word it describes.

In Thai, you would put an adverb after the verb or adjective. For example, when you say 'very hot' you would say ร้อนมาก or Ron Mak - where 'mak' is an adverb meaning very. It would be' hot very.

In Myanmar, however, the adverb is placed in front of an adjective or a verb.

Examples:


1.

- In the above example, the adverb thiek means 'very' and the adjective 'poo' means 'hot'

As you can see the adverb is right in front of the word it describes - in this case an adjective.

Please not that the adverb thiek is informal.

2.

Similar to the above example, the word /aluan/ means very in English. In fact, /aluan/ is formal and often appears in the media and textbooks.


3.

Another commonly found adverb 'very' in Myanmar is /ayaan / which also means 'very'.

Example

/ Ayaam / here means 'very' It is put in front of an adjective /A/ which means cold.

In the above example, the adverb /ayaam/ modifies a verb /maung/ or drive