Verb + ลง

Downward Movement and Decrease

Level 2

The displayed phrases use ลง for downward movement or placement, a decrease, and recording information. In the final example, ทำไม่ลง means being unable to bring oneself to act. Read each complete phrase rather than substituting English “down” everywhere.

How It Works

Downward movement and placement
In นั่งลงก่อนครับ, นั่งลง means sit down and ก่อน means first. ครับ is an utterance-ending particle; this written example does not establish a speaker identity. In วางกระเป๋าลงบนโต๊ะ, the bag is put down on the table. These complete phrases describe sitting or placement, without making ลง an attached suffix.

For the directional comparison, เดินลงมา adds coming toward the selected reference point to walking down. เดินลง can describe walking down without that explicit come component. The exercise requests the complete form with มา. The linked directional combinations provide a comparison; not every movement phrase requires both components.

Decrease and recording
ช่วงนี้อากาศเย็นลง describes the weather becoming cooler these days. ราคาน้ำมันลดลงแล้ว says the oil price has already decreased; it is the example’s assertion, not a verified current price report. The linked adjective-as-predicate topic can be compared with เย็น in this example. The linked increase pattern is a separate comparison, not a rule making every phrase with ขึ้น and ลง interchangeable opposites. A decrease does not itself mean worsening.

In เขาจดเบอร์โทรศัพท์ลงในสมุด, จด...ลง is translated functionally as write ... down, and ในสมุด supplies the notebook location. The English past tense is a selected reading; no overt past marker appears. This example does not establish that every recording phrase needs ใน or บน.

Being unable to bring oneself to act
In ฉันสงสารเขาจนทำไม่ลง, the speaker feels so sorry for him that they cannot bring themselves to do [it]. จน connects the extent of that feeling with the inability, and ทำไม่ลง is read as a whole. The act is omitted and must come from context. The sentence does not identify a particular cruel act or describe something failing to move downward.

The two comparisons
For the requested meaning “I feel sad,” retain ผมรู้สึกเศร้า; substituting ลง in the other displayed string does not express that requested sadness. For the requested walking-down-toward-the-reference-point meaning, retain เดินลงมา. The shorter เดินลง can have a different meaningful context. Neither comparison is a ban on every English “down” idiom or every movement phrase without มา.

Examples (6)

  1. นั่งลงก่อนครับ

    Please sit down first.

    Word by Word: sit down | first | ครับ [utterance-ending particle]

    นั่งลง means sit down here, ก่อน means first, and ครับ ends the utterance. The functional translation reads this as an instruction; the writing alone does not establish the speaker’s identity.

  2. ช่วงนี้อากาศเย็นลง

    The weather is getting cooler lately.

    Word by Word: these days | weather | become cooler

    เย็นลง describes becoming cooler in this weather example. ช่วงนี้ supplies the these-days time context. A temperature decrease does not itself imply that the weather is worse.

  3. เขาจดเบอร์โทรศัพท์ลงในสมุด

    He wrote the phone number down in the notebook.

    Word by Word: he | write down | phone number | in | notebook

    จด...ลง is read functionally as write ... down, and ในสมุด supplies the notebook location. The past tense is selected in this translation; no overt past marker appears. This does not require a location phrase in every use of จดลง.

  4. กรุณาวางกระเป๋าลงบนโต๊ะ

    Please put the bag down on the table.

    Word by Word: please | put down | bag | on | table

    กรุณา introduces the request. วาง...ลง describes putting the bag down, and บนโต๊ะ supplies the table surface. The complete phrase is translated functionally rather than as an attached suffix.

  5. ราคาน้ำมันลดลงแล้ว

    The price of oil has decreased already.

    Word by Word: oil price | decrease | already

    ลดลง means decrease here, and แล้ว supplies already in the selected completed-change reading. The sentence asserts an oil-price decrease; it does not verify a current price.

  6. ฉันสงสารเขาจนทำไม่ลง

    I feel so sorry for him that I cannot bring myself to do [it].

    Word by Word: I | feel sorry for him | so ... that | cannot bring myself to do [it]

    จน connects the extent of the speaker’s pity with ทำไม่ลง, cannot bring oneself to act. The act is omitted, so [it] is supplied from context. No particular cruel act or physical downward movement is specified.

Common Mistakes

  • Express the requested sadness with เศร้า.

    ผมรู้สึกลง
    ผมรู้สึกเศร้า

    For this task, express “I feel sad” as ผมรู้สึกเศร้า. The other displayed string substitutes ลง and does not convey that requested sadness. This comparison does not establish a rule for every English idiom containing “down.”

  • Include มา for the requested coming-down meaning.

    เดินลง
    เดินลงมา

    The task requests เดินลงมา: walk down toward the selected reference point. เดินลง can mean walk down without explicitly expressing come. It remains a meaningful alternative in another context; มา is not mandatory in every movement phrase.

How It Connects

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

Verb + ลงLevel 2Downward Movement and Decrease

Learn This First

To understand 'Verb + ลง', you need to be comfortable with Thai's serial verb construction where a secondary verb acts as a directional marker. It is helpful to first understand basic directional markers like 'ไป' (go) and 'มา' (come), as well as the opposite directional marker 'ขึ้น' (up).

Words in This Pattern

ลงลง