ทั้ง ๆ ที่

Even Though

Level 3

ทั้ง ๆ ที่ introduces a circumstance despite which something else happens. The contrast depends on the expectation and context, not on two facts being logically impossible together.

How It Works

1. Read The Expectation
The wealthy person lives frugally. The person who knows an action is bad still does it. The holiday sentence says he has to work, and the exam sentence says he failed despite studying a lot. ทั้ง ๆ ที่ presents these as contrasts with an expectation; both situations can be true.

2. Follow The Complete Clauses
The first three examples begin with ทั้ง ๆ ที่. The exam sentence places it after the main statement. ก็ and ก็ยัง appear in some displayed clauses, while the exam sentence has no ก็. Learn these full examples rather than requiring the same particle in every sentence.

3. Read Time And Attitude From Context
The connector expresses concession. The surrounding words and situation supply the time and the speaker’s attitude. A concessive relation alone does not fix a tense, or require frustration or irony.

4. Read The Repeated Expression
The repetition mark repeats ทั้ง in ทั้ง ๆ ที่. Learn the full expression. The selected rain task requests the complete predicate ฝนตก, “it is raining,” in the contrasting clause.

Examples (4)

  1. ทั้ง ๆ ที่เขารวยมาก แต่เขาก็ยังใช้ชีวิตประหยัด

    Even though he is very rich, he still lives a frugal life.

    Word by Word: Even though he rich very, but he also still use life frugal.

    The sentence contrasts his wealth with living frugally. These facts can both hold; the contrast is with an expectation about wealth.

  2. ทั้ง ๆ ที่รู้ว่าไม่ดี เขาก็ยังทำ

    Even though he knew it was bad, he did it anyway.

    Word by Word: Even though know that not good, he also still do.

    The sentence contrasts knowing the action is bad with doing it anyway.

  3. ทั้ง ๆ ที่วันนี้เป็นวันหยุด แต่เขาก็ต้องทำงาน

    Despite the fact that today is a holiday, he has to work.

    Word by Word: Even though today is day-off, but he also must work.

    The sentence contrasts a holiday with his having to work.

  4. เขาสอบตก ทั้ง ๆ ที่อ่านหนังสือเยอะมาก

    He failed the exam even though he studied a lot.

    Word by Word: He exam fail, even though read book a lot very.

    The pattern can also be placed in the middle of a sentence to explain the surprising result.

Common Mistakes

  • State That It Is Raining And He Still Goes Out.

    ทั้ง ๆ ที่ฝน เขาก็ออกไป
    ทั้ง ๆ ที่ฝนตก เขาก็ออกไป

    For the requested complete raining statement, ฝนตก supplies the rain predicate in ทั้ง ๆ ที่ฝนตก เขาก็ออกไป. The shorter ฝน slot does not explicitly state that it is raining. This comparison does not prohibit every understood or elliptical predicate in context.

How It Connects

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

ทั้ง ๆ ที่Level 3Even Though

Learn This First

To understand 'ทั้ง ๆ ที่', you first need to be familiar with the repetition mark (ๆ) which is used in the spelling, and the relative marker 'ที่' which connects the clauses. It is also helpful to understand basic contrastive markers like 'แต่' (but) to appreciate how this pattern expresses a clash between two facts.

Words in This Pattern

ทั้ง ๆ ที่ทั้ง