แล้วก็

And Then

Level 2

แล้วก็ (laeo ko) can mean and then or and also. Read the surrounding actions or descriptions to distinguish sequence from addition.

How It Works

1. Actions in Sequence
Use [Action 1] + แล้วก็ + [Action 2] to connect an action with the next one. The sequence can concern a past event, an instruction, or a future plan; แล้วก็ does not by itself place both actions in the past. The linked topics แล้ว and ก็ explain their own related uses; they are not automatically interchangeable shortenings in every sentence.

2. A Subject in the Next Clause
One illustrated pattern is ...แล้วเขาก็ไป: แล้ว introduces the next clause, เขา names its subject, and ก็ comes before the predicate ไป. Learn this complete pattern. It does not establish that every clause beginning with แล้วก็ is wrong, or that two occurrences of ก็ can never have distinct roles.

3. Adding an Item or Fact
แล้วก็ can mean and also. In the supplied food order, it adds grilled chicken to the papaya salad. It can also join descriptions, such as two properties of the same food, without asserting that one property happens before the other. และ (and) also connects words or clauses; its use is not confined to lists of nouns.

4. Context and Completion
In the homework example, เสร็จ states that the homework is finished before the next action. Do not assign that explicit completion meaning to every occurrence of แล้วก็. The surrounding sentence supplies the participants and time.

5. Comparing Connectors
Choose a connector for the relation you intend to express. แล้วก็ can make a next action explicit, while และ can coordinate clauses without itself requiring the same temporal reading. A sentence with และ is not automatically an error merely because its actions can occur in order. The supplied material does not establish a universal casual-versus-formal replacement rule.

Examples (4)

กินข้าวแล้วก็นอน
I ate and then went to sleep.
Word by Word: eat rice and then sleep
The actions are linked as a sequence. The English rendering supplies I and past time from context; the Thai sentence itself leaves the subject and time unstated.
เอาส้มตำแล้วก็ไก่ย่างครับ
I'll take the papaya salad and also the grilled chicken.
Word by Word: take papaya-salad and also grilled-chicken [polite]
แล้วก็ adds the grilled chicken to the papaya salad in this food order; it does not describe eating one before the other.
เขาทำการบ้านเสร็จแล้วก็ออกไปเล่น
He finished his homework and then went out to play.
Word by Word: he do work house finish and then go out play
เสร็จ explicitly says that the homework is finished; แล้วก็ connects this with going out to play next.
ไปอาบน้ำแล้วก็แต่งตัวนะ
Go take a shower and then get dressed, okay?
Word by Word: go bathe water and then dress body [softener]
This instruction links taking a shower with getting dressed next. It concerns actions to do, rather than asserting that both have already happened.

Common Mistakes

Using กับ in the supplied pair when the intended relation is one action and then the next.
ผมกินข้าวกับผมไปนอน
ผมกินข้าวแล้วก็ไปนอน
For the intended sequence I eat and then go to sleep, the supplied correction ผมกินข้าวแล้วก็ไปนอน uses แล้วก็ between the actions. กับ (with/and) does not express that intended and-then relation in the supplied sentence. This comparison does not establish that แล้วก็ is the only possible connector or that กับ is prohibited in every construction involving verbs.
Spelling the particle ก็ as ก้อ in this standard written sentence.
แล้วเขาก้อไป
แล้วเขาก็ไป
Use the standard written particle ก็, not ก้อ, in this sentence. The complete correction is แล้วเขาก็ไป: เขา remains the subject and ก็ precedes ไป. This exercise corrects the particle's spelling; it does not establish a universal ban on two occurrences of ก็.
Writing แล่ว instead of แล้ว in the connector แล้วก็.
ผมอาบน้ำแล่วก็แต่งตัว
ผมอาบน้ำแล้วก็แต่งตัว
The next-action connector in this standard written sentence is spelled แล้วก็. The deliberately incorrect slot writes แล่ว, with the wrong mark, in place of แล้ว. Restore แล้ว to obtain ผมอาบน้ำแล้วก็แต่งตัว. This is a spelling exercise; it does not declare grammatical coordination with และ incorrect.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

แล้วก็Level 2And Then

Learn This First

To understand 'แล้วก็' (and then), you need to be familiar with its two component particles: 'แล้ว', which marks completion, and 'ก็', which functions as a connector. Together, they create a sequence of events. You should also be comfortable with basic Thai sentence structure to effectively link actions.

Words in This Pattern