พอ ... ก็

As Soon as

Level 2

Use พอ ... ก็ for a prompt sequence: once he finds out, he gets angry; once the homework is finished, the next activity follows.

How It Works

As Soon As One Event Happens
พอ ... ก็ connects an event with what follows promptly: พอเขารู้เรื่อง เขาก็โกรธมาก means 'Once he found out, he got very angry'. The first event may be finding something out, arriving, or finishing a task. It need not always be the completion of an activity.

1. Build the Two Clauses
Use พอ + the first clause, followed by the next clause with ก็. In พอฉันถึงบ้าน ฝนก็ตก, ฝน ('rain') comes before ก็ and ตก ('fall') comes after it. For the pattern practiced here, keep that subject–ก็–predicate order. In พอทำการบ้านเสร็จ ก็ไปเล่นเกม, neither clause names its subject, so ก็ begins the second clause. The inferred '[I]' in the translation comes from a possible context, not an overt Thai pronoun.

2. Prompt Sequence
The pattern presents the second event as following when the first event occurs. In พอกินข้าวเสร็จ ก็อาบน้ำทันที, ทันที explicitly adds 'immediately'. Compare the entire sentence rather than treating every use of ก็ as this same temporal pattern.

3. Different Meanings and Connectors
Here พอ is a time connector. In other contexts it can mean 'enough'. เมื่อ can introduce a 'when' clause without itself specifying the same prompt sequence. The linked กว่าจะ construction can express 'by the time' or 'before', with a different relation between the events. For an exercise requesting arrival followed promptly by rain, use พอฉันถึงบ้าน ฝนก็ตก. The alternative beginning กว่า is not the requested พอ pattern; it does not always mean that the rain had already started.

Examples (4)

  1. พอฉันถึงบ้าน ฝนก็ตก

    As soon as I reached home, it rained.

    Word by Word: As-soon-as I reach home, rain then fall.

    Notice how 'gɔ̂ɔ' follows the subject 'fǒn' (rain).

  2. พอเขารู้เรื่อง เขาก็โกรธมาก

    Once he found out, he got very angry.

    Word by Word: As-soon-as he know story, he then angry very.

    The trigger is 'knowing the story', and the immediate result is 'getting angry'.

  3. พอทำการบ้านเสร็จ ก็ไปเล่นเกม

    As soon as [I] finished homework, [I] went to play games.

    Word by Word: As-soon-as do homework finish, then go play game.

    Neither clause names its subject. The translation supplies [I] as an inference from a possible context.

  4. พอกินข้าวเสร็จ ก็อาบน้ำทันที

    As soon as [I] finished eating, [I] took a shower immediately.

    Word by Word: As-soon-as eat rice finish, then bathe water immediately.

    Adding 'than-thii' (immediately) at the end further emphasizes the speed of the sequence.

Common Mistakes

  • Not following the requested subject–ก็–predicate order in the second clause.

    พอฉันถึงบ้าน ก็ฝนตก
    พอฉันถึงบ้าน ฝนก็ตก

    For the pattern practiced here, use ฝนก็ตก: ฝน is the subject, followed by ก็ and then ตก. พอฉันถึงบ้าน ก็ฝนตก does not follow that requested order. This exercise concerns this particular clause pattern, not every possible placement of ก็ in Thai.

  • Using กว่า instead of the requested พอ connector for this prompt sequence.

    กว่าฉันถึงบ้าน ฝนก็ตก
    พอฉันถึงบ้าน ฝนก็ตก

    For the requested as-soon-as relation, use พอฉันถึงบ้าน ฝนก็ตก. The alternative with กว่า uses a different connector. The related กว่าจะ construction can express by the time or before; it is not interchangeable with พอ in every context, and it does not always assert that the result was already happening.

How It Connects

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

พอ ... ก็Level 2As Soon as

Learn This First

To understand 'พอ ... ก็' (As Soon As), you need to be familiar with how Thai links clauses using the particle 'ก็' and how basic sentences are structured. This pattern essentially wraps two standard clauses to show a rapid sequence of events.

Words in This Pattern

พอพอก็