Word of the Day: อนาคต /a'naa'khót/

Word of the Day for Thursday, March 26, 2009:

อนาคต /a'naa'khót/ n. the future; adj. future, -to-be

As with อดีต "past" and ปัจจุบัน "present", in its noun form, the preposition ใน frequently leads อนาคต as ในอนาคต "in the future". You'll also frequently see แห่งอนาคต "of the future".

The slogan for ex-Bangkok governor Apirak Kosayodhin's 2008 campaign was เลือกอภิรักษ์ เลือกกรุงเทพฯแห่งอนาคต "Vote for Apirak. Vote for Bangkok of the Future." (The accompanying website, futurebangkok.net, is now defunct. Much like Apirak's political career.)

Also notice his clever use of design to emphasize the words รักกรุงเทพ ("love Bangkok") within his slogan. It's very clever.

The adjective form of อนาคต is rare, but used much like อดีต. You'll occasionally see a construction like อนาคตประธานาธิบดี "future president". The noun form is by far the most frequently used, though.

There is also an elegant form of the noun: อนาคตกาล /a'naa.khót.ta 'kaan/ (literally "future time"), the opposite of อดีตกาล /a'dìit.ta 'kaan/ "past time". It doesn't turn up too often, but it's best to know so you don't get thrown for a loop.

[Tip: Paste Thai words or phrases you aren't familiar with into thai2english.com for definitions and romanized spelling.]