There are many “utility” words in Thai; words that mean several different things and serve multiple grammatical functions depending on how they are used.
I thought it would be a good idea to slowly go through some of these words to give you a better understanding of how they work, especially since they are very heavily used in both spoken and written Thai.
The first word I want to start with is one I touched upon in my last post – Sentence Structure Matters (to a point). The word is ได้ (dâi – “can”), and as you will see has a few ways it’s used.
Shall we get started?
Can/Be Able To
I think this is the most common way that ได้ is used. When placed after a verb, ได้ means “can/be able to.”
ผมไปตลาดได้
pǒm bpai dtà-làat dâi
(I go market can)
I can go to the market.
To form the negative of this statement, use ไม่ได้ (mâi dâi – “cannot”) instead of ได้.
ผมไปตลาดไม่ได้
pǒm bpai dtà-làat mâi dâi
(I go market cannot)
I cannot go to the market.
To Get To/As You Told Me To Do
When ได้ is used as the main verb of a sentence, it means “to get.” For example:
ผมได้ไปตลาด
pǒm dâi bpai dtà-làat
(I get to go market)
I get to go to the market.
By adding แล้ว (lɛ́ɛo – “already”) at the end of the sentence you are inferring “as you told me to do.”
ผมได้ไปตลาดแล้ว
pǒm dâi bpai dtà-làat lɛ́ɛo
(I as you told me to go market already)
I went to the market (as you told me to do).
“Whatever” You Like
Actually this can be whatever/whoever/whenever you like when you add ก็ (gɔ̂ɔ) in front of ได้ — ก็ได้ (gɔ̂ɔ dâai) and place an indefinite pronoun (who, what, when) in front of it.
กินอะไรก็ได้
gin à rai gɔ̂ɔ dâai
(Eat whatever you like)
Eat whatever you like.
เราไปเมื่อไรก็ได้
rao bpai mʉ̂a-rai gɔ̂ɔ dâai
(We go whenever you like)
We can go whenever you like.
Also take note that in this case ได้ is pronounced with a long vowel — dâai.
Did Not
We’ve already looked at ไม่ได้ a little bit. When placed before a verb, it takes on the meaning of “did not,” such as:
ผมไม่ได้ไปตลาด
pǒm mâi dâi bpai dtà-làat
(I did not go market)
I did not go to the market.
I think that’s a good start. There will be at least a Part 2, if not a Part 3 as well; I’ll have to see how much to put in each time, as I don’t want to cause information overload.
Good luck!
This is the clearest explanation I’ve seen about various ways to use ได้. Thank you for taking time to analyze and post as you did. Looking forward to more like this.
Thanks, Peter. I try to be as simple and clear as possible. The information in most of the Thai grammar books are overcomplicated, in my opinion.
Josh, You are on to something good here with these types of posts. They are short and sweet, but not overwhelming.
Thanks, Catherine. It’s good to get this kind of feedback so I know what’s working and what isn’t. Much appreciated!
I learned something new with your explanation of ผมได้ไปตลาดแล้ว, so thanks. I hope you do more of this style of post, that teach about the subtleties of thai with examples rather than rules and are therefore much easier to absorb.
Glad you like it, Jan. Yes, I plan on doing many more of this type of post; it’s the best way for me to learn as well. I do reserve the right to mess it up, however, as I’m just as much a student as everyone else.
wow,,, I’m glad that you have a good interest in Thai language. your blog is a good reference for me to teach Thai language to my friend ^^,,
However,,, I would like to correct one point.
at the ‘Did not’ it should be ผมไม่ได้ไปตลาด
To use ‘ไม่’, what you have to do is put it in the front of verb the normal sentence, quite similar to english’s structure ^^
Thanks for catching that. I even explained it that way in the sentence above but then didn’t execute it correctly in Thai. It’s been fixed.
Thumb up Josh! I like it much!