การ

kaan

the act of doing

Native recording

Analyzing pitch…

  1. 1 the act of doing、the process of doing、doing [as a noun]
  2. 2 activity、work、system、field
  3. 3 task、matter、affair、business

การ turns an action, activity, or matter into something that can be talked about as a noun. The pattern การ + verb is especially common for “doing...” or “the act/process of...,” often in explanations, rules, news, and formal contexts.

1

the act of doing、the process of doing、doing [as a noun]

Noun⭐️5 Essential

Placed before a verb or verb phrase to make it a noun meaning the act, process, or activity of doing something.

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2

activity、work、system、field

Noun⭐️4 Often used

Used in many established nouns for activities, institutions, fields, systems, or organized work.

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3

task、matter、affair、business

Noun⭐️2 Not often used

As a noun, it can mean a task, matter, affair, or business to be dealt with, though this use is most common in fixed expressions today.

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Learning notes

Explanation

The core idea of การ is making an action, activity, or matter into a noun. The key pattern is การ + verb/verb phrase, as in การอ่าน “reading” and การทำงาน “working; work.” It is common in news, rules, explanations, school, business, and official writing. Many words with การ, such as การศึกษา, การเมือง, and การเงิน, have become established nouns for fields or systems, so frequent ones are best learned as vocabulary items.

Usage

It is common in explanations, rules, reports, news, schools, companies, and official contexts. Use it when you want to discuss an action itself, such as “doing X is important,” “doing X is prohibited,” or “X will be carried out.”

Caution

Do not attach การ mechanically to every word. Qualities, feelings, and states often use ความ instead, such as ความสุข for “happiness,” not การสุข. Also, การที่ + clause means “the fact that...” and is useful when what follows is a fuller clause.

Differences from similar words

1 the act of doing synonyms

2 activity synonyms

  • งาน usually refers to concrete work, a task, or an event. การ is more abstract and is common in names of fields, systems, and organized activities.

3 task synonyms

  • เรื่อง is a very general everyday word for a topic, matter, issue, or story. การ in this sense feels more like business or a task to be handled and is common in fixed or somewhat formal expressions.

Component words

Other words containing การ

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