Thai actions in progress, already and not yet

Before the action

Use กำลัง before the action to show it is in progress.

ฉันกำลังล้างจาน says I am washing dishes. The action is under way at the time being discussed. กำลัง comes before ล้างจาน, the action and object, while the action word keeps its form.

Compare ฉันล้างจานทุกวัน, I wash dishes every day, with ตอนนี้ฉันกำลังล้างจาน, I am washing dishes now. The first gives a routine; the second presents a current action. A habit does not by itself prove that the action is happening now.

พวกเรากำลังทำอาหาร says we are cooking. The marker stays the same for one person or a group. คุณกำลังทำอะไร asks what you are doing; ทำ means do and อะไร asks what.

The marker presents an action as under way at a reference time, not necessarily the moment you speak. A past time frame can place an ongoing action in the past. Do not add it mechanically to every role, quality or location statement.

The action word does not get a special singular or plural ending.

After the action and object

Use อยู่ after an action phrase to present it as continuing.

ครูอ่านหนังสืออยู่ says the teacher is reading a book. In this pattern, อยู่ follows the action and its object, อ่านหนังสือ. It does not go between the reading action and the book.

You can use both markers: ครูกำลังอ่านหนังสืออยู่. For a simple action like this, ครูกำลังอ่านหนังสือ and ครูอ่านหนังสืออยู่ also work. The shorter ending pattern is common in everyday conversation; it is not missing a compulsory word.

Compare ครูอยู่ที่บ้าน, the teacher is at home, with ครูทำอาหารอยู่, the teacher is cooking. In the first, อยู่ is the location word before a place. In the second, it follows an action phrase and marks continuation. คุณทำอะไรอยู่ is a natural everyday question: what are you doing?

These markers overlap in the familiar ongoing actions here, but are not interchangeable in every construction. The ending marker can also describe a continuing state. Later blocks revisit those meanings; do not turn this starting pattern into an automatic replacement rule.

The location word and the continuing marker have the same spelling but different jobs.

A situation has changed

Use แล้ว after the action or state to show that something has happened or is now true.

ผมกินข้าวแล้ว says I have eaten a meal already. In this familiar meal context, the eating has happened. Keep แล้ว after the action and its object; the action word itself does not change.

ผมหิวแล้ว says I am hungry now: I was not hungry before, but the situation has changed. It does not mean the hunger has ended. พร้อมแล้ว similarly says ready now.

For an explicit finish, use เสร็จ: ผมทำงานเสร็จแล้ว, I have finished the work. เสร็จ makes the finish clear. Do not attach แล้ว to every past-time sentence or assume every activity with it has completely stopped.

แล้ว does not always mean that an activity is over. Look at the whole phrase: being hungry now and having finished work describe different changes.

A time word can place an action in the past without requiring this marker.

Still, not yet and a short answer

Use ยัง before what continues, and ยังไม่ before what has not happened yet.

ครูยังทำงานอยู่ says the teacher is still working. ยัง is before the activity; the familiar ending อยู่ can show it continues. ยังไม่เสร็จ says not finished yet, with the negative word before เสร็จ.

ผมยังไม่ได้กินข้าว means I have not eaten a meal yet. Put ยังไม่ได้ before the action. It says the action has not happened so far; it often suggests that it may happen later, but does not promise that it will.

คุณกินข้าวแล้วหรือยัง asks have you eaten yet? After the action phrase comes แล้วหรือยัง. A natural positive reply is กินแล้วครับ; a natural negative reply is ยังครับ, not yet. The shared question makes the omitted meal clear. Add คะ to the question in the feminine polite style.

For a state such as being ready, use ยังไม่พร้อม, not ready yet. For an action that has not happened, this block uses ยังไม่ได้ before the action. Keep these useful patterns together; the two forms are not interchangeable everywhere.

The short negative reply answers this yet question; it is not a universal word for no.

The same spelling can do a new job

You already know อยู่ for location, as in ผมอยู่ที่บ้าน. After an action phrase, as in ผมฟังเพลงอยู่, it describes that action continuing. Look at the whole phrase and its order rather than assigning one fixed translation to every occurrence.

Already does not always mean finished

In หิวแล้ว, the new situation is being hungry. In ทำงานเสร็จแล้ว, the new situation is having finished work. The word before แล้ว and the surrounding context tell you which change matters; one fixed translation cannot explain both.