More words that are easy to confuse.

Isle/ aisle.

These two English words sound exactly the same:

Surrounded by aisles and aisles of tiny little shops, independent designer boutiques and bordered by a night market, Siam Square is every shopper’s dream.

From the hills to the paradise isle: Phuket’s small but vibrant Thai-Nepalese community.

The word isle usually refers to a small island. An aisle is a passageway between two rows of seats or other obstacles. Aisles can be found in airplanes, auditoriums, shops, and markets.

180 degrees/ 360 degrees.

Even native English speakers make a mistake sometimes when they wish to say something is totally opposed to its previous position. Their error is to say it is a 360 degree change. If you remember your early mathematics classes, a turn of 360 degrees would bring us back to the same place where we began. So a change to an opposite position would be an 180 degree change.

In Thailand, the pilot of the airplane made a 180 degree turn, nearly striking the skydivers.

AM/ PM

To tell the time, we divide hours into morning and afternoon. The familiar term AM means before midday or noon, from the Latin words ante meridiem, meaning before midday.  PM derives from the Latin term post meridiem, meaning after midday. It is not important to remember the original Latin words, but it is helpful to keep in mind that AM and PM are abbreviations. In modern formal usage, it is no longer considered necessary to add full stops after each letter, by writing a.m. or P.M. It is acceptable to write AM or am, or PM or pm after the hour in question. When writing term papers and academic articles, it is seen as more formal to leave a space between the number and the letters AM or PM, so the correct form would be:

11 PM or 11 pm.

It would not be as formal to write:

11PM or 11pm.

Also keep in mind a frequent mistake in Thai English, involving noon or midnight. Many academic events happen at midday, but few are scheduled for midnight.  Yet in Thai English, when a writer means 12 noon, often by mistake 12AM or 12am or 12 AM or 12 am is written. All four of these examples are wrong. In fact, 12 noon is considered to be the start of the afternoon, and as such it should be written as 12 pm or 12 PM. You do not need to remember this detail, as long as you remember that it is easy to make a mistake about writing 12 noon. The most efficient method for writing 12 noon is not to write 12 pm or 12 PM, but just to simply write noon or 12 noon. It is also possible to write the phrase exactly at noon, when this is what you mean. In a similar way, writers of Thai English often make the error of writing 12pm or 12PM or 12 PM or 12 pm when what is meant is midnight. The reason for this mistake is clear. When we think of midnight, we do not think of the morning but late night, and it seems to make more sense to use PM or pm instead of AM or AM. Once again, this way of thinking turns out to be wrong.

Midnight or 12 am or 12 AM is considered to be the start of the morning and therefore AM or am must be used. In this instance as well, it is not necessary to remember which should be used, AM or PM. All that matters is to remember that this is a tricky point, and how to avoid the risk of getting it wrong. When you must write about something historical that happened at midnight, just write that it happened at midnight, or at 12 midnight if you prefer. Sometimes in English what is simplest and easiest is in fact also the choice that happens to be correct. Many writers of Thai English make things unnecessarily difficult for themselves, by choosing a complex solution when a more clear and direct one exists. Then they get the complex solution wrong. Once you know that a simple choice can help you avoid making errors about noon and midnight, you should never again make the mistake of writing a poster that announces a faculty lecture for midnight, for example. The Thai habit of writing the hours of the day in the form 12:00 instead of 12 is based on the military 24 hour clock, but these extra zeros are not needed if you have indicated pm or am. It is not necessary to write 12:00 pm or 12:00 PM, since with fewer digits you can express the same thing by writing 12 pm or 12 PM with the identical meaning.

The luncheon of the Rotary Club Bangkapi will be at the Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok, starting at 12 noon.

Chiang Mai Gate is dominated by two daily markets, the morning market until noon and the night food market from 8 pm until midnight.

The Express train leaves at 10 pm and arrives at Chiang Mai at around noon the next day.

Koh Lanta nightlife is not the same crazy all-night madness as in Phuket. Please note that many parties do not start until around midnight.

Naturally, if the times you wish to refer to have minutes attached, such as 12:30 pm or 12:45 PM, then it is essential to include the full number of digits.

Advanced/advance.

The adjective advanced means highly developed from a beginning state. Something that is advanced may often be considered state of the art. An advanced degree in an academic subject means one that goes beyond elementary studies.

When I needed to work at a more advanced Thai reading level, I wrote my own textbooks.

Learn more about scuba diving! Take the PADI Advanced Open Water Course with Blue Guru Diving on Koh Phra Thong.

All Yoga Thailand offers advanced Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga training on Koh Samui and Koh Phangan.

By contrast, when it is used as an adjective, advance means happening before or earlier than expected, or ahead of time. It can also describe something that is put before something else:

A 15% advance payment stipulation on price estimate papers has further escalated controversies involving the procurement fees.

These conditions apply for anyone with an advance booking to Thailand.

On April 28, 2004, Thai security forces, which had had advance warning of the attack, repulsed a coordinated assault on 15 police posts in three provinces.

If the employer requires the employee to leave his/her job immediately, the employer will be required to pay money in lieu of an advance notice.

Adopt/ adapt.

The verb adopt can be used in different ways. It can mean accepting the legal responsibility for a child or a pet, as well as taking up something, such as an approach or a concept.

The task of submitting a Thai adoption application with the Child Adoption Center in Bangkok can seem overwhelming.

If you live in Thailand it is very easy to adopt a dog.

Some Thai singers adopt a foreign stage name.

The verb adapt has a different meaning. It refers to changing something to fit a certain circumstance, or to adjust to some conditions in order to survive or improve:

Thailand Science Park is located in the town of Tha Khlong, aiming to adapt to the ever-changing needs of today’s workers.

The Foreign Trade Department has suggested that Thai exporters adapt their export model.

Faced with an expanding AIDS epidemic and economic setbacks, Thailand has to adapt its program to fit scientific, ethical, and economic situations.

(all images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).