ต่างก็

Each of Them

Level 4

ต่างก็ presents the members of a relevant group as sharing an action or state. It does not require each person to act alone or for their own benefit.

How It Works

Read the Group:
เราต่างก็มีเหตุผลของตัวเอง says we each have our own reasons. ทุกคนต่างก็ดีใจ... describes everyone as happy. นักเรียนต่างก็ตั้งใจสอบ describes the students as focused on the exam. The subjects refer to groups in these examples, without requiring a separate plural suffix.

Each Does Not Mean Alone:
The construction can distribute an action or state across members while they still act together. The friends’ sentence describes heading home; it does not state that every person goes to a different home alone.

Compare Patterns:
ต่าง can also have a distributive use without ก็ in appropriate constructions. ต่างคนต่าง emphasizes separate participation more directly. Compare ทุก in its own phrases; it is not restricted to a collective total.

The Selected Order:
In เราต่างก็มีปัญหา, เรา is the subject before ต่างก็ and the predicate. Learn this complete order rather than treating every fronted or understood subject in Thai as the same case.

Examples (4)

  1. เราต่างก็มีเหตุผลของตัวเอง

    We each have our own reasons.

    Word by Word: We | each | have | reason | of | self

    This shows that while 'we' (the group) have reasons, those reasons belong to each individual separately.

  2. ทุกคนต่างก็ดีใจที่เขาปลอดภัย

    Everyone was [each] happy that he was safe.

    Word by Word: Every | person | each | happy | that | he | safe

    Here, 'everyone' is the plural subject, and 'tàng gôr' emphasizes the individual joy felt by every person in the group.

  3. นักเรียนต่างก็ตั้งใจสอบ

    The students were all [each] intent on the exam.

    Word by Word: Student | each | intent | exam

    ต่างก็ presents the students individually as being intent on the exam.

  4. เพื่อนๆ ต่างก็แยกย้ายกันกลับบ้าน

    The friends all headed home.

    Word by Word: Friends | each | disperse [group participation] | return | home

    The sentence describes the friends heading home. It does not specify distinct destinations or require that they travel separately.

Common Mistakes

  • Say That We Each Have Problems.

    ต่างก็เรามีปัญหา
    เราต่างก็มีปัญหา

    For the displayed statement about us, choose เราต่างก็มีปัญหา, with เรา before ต่างก็ and มีปัญหา. ต่างก็เรามีปัญหา does not reproduce that standard complete order.

How It Connects

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

ต่างก็Level 4Each of Them

Learn This First

To understand 'ต่างก็', you first need to know the individual meanings of its components: 'ต่าง' (meaning different or separate) and the particle 'ก็' (used to link subjects to their actions). Additionally, because this pattern is used to describe how every member of a group performs an action separately, you should be familiar with how to form plural subjects in Thai.

Words in This Pattern

ต่างก็