Continuing with our analysis of the word ได้ that I wrote about last week, I wanted to finish up the discussion of this utility word by providing you with some useful phrases that use ได้. This isn’t an exhaustive list, and some further study of the word and its uses is certainly required. For now, however, these two posts should give you (and me) plenty of data to work with.

I suggest that you create some example sentences and see how you can incorporate ได้ into your vocabulary. There are a lot, as we’ve seen, but with practice and repetition you will get it.

Here are other uses to get you on your way:

Can Do Adequately

Verb + พอได้ / พอจะ (Verb) ได้

ผมเล่นกีตาร์พอได้
pǒm lên gii-dtaa pɔɔ dâi
(I play guitar “can do adequately”)
I can play guitar well.

Fairly Good To

พอ + (Verb) + ได้

พอวิ่งได้
pɔɔ wîng dâi
(fairly run “well enough”)
I can run well enough.

พอเข้าใจได้
(fairly understand “well enough”)
I understand well enough.

Might Be Able To

Put ได้ at the end of the sentence.

ผมอาจจะกินได้
pǒm àat jà gin dâai
(I might eat “be able to”)
I might be able to eat.

Expressions

Keep Going: อยู่ได้ /yùu dâai/
(Note: ได้ /dâai/, when at the end of sentences, often gets elongated so as to not end the sentence abruptly.)

Doing It Wrong: ได้แล้ว /dâi lɛ́ɛo/

It’s possible: เป็นไปได้ /bpen bpai dâai/

It’s impossible: เป็นไปไม่ได้ /bpen bpai mâi dâai/

Is it possible?: เป็นไปได้ไหม /bpen dâi mǎi/