Yes, please.
Everybody has needs. Everybody has “would likes.”
In English, we typically would just say “I want…” or “I need…” and leave it at that.
When you look at Thai language books, dictionaries, or travel phrasebooks you will often see the word ต้องการ /dtɔ̂ng gaan/ to express “would like.” For example:
ผมต้องการซื้อรถ
/pǒm dtɔ̂ng-gaan sʉ́ʉ rót/
(I “would like” buy car)
I would like to buy a car.
This is pretty straightforward and easy to understand.
The problem is, this isn’t really correct…
When I say “isn’t really correct” I don’t mean to imply that it’s wrong, but more so that it’s not complete. More information is needed. When using ต้องการ in a sentence, it is implied that you should provide a reason as to why you “would like” whatever it is you are talking about. A “because…” if you will. Understand that if you don’t give a reason, the person you are speaking to will still understand what you are trying to say, but to them it may just sound a little off. An example of the proper way to use ต้องการ is:
ผมต้องการซื้อรถเพราะงานใหม่อยู่ไกลมาก
/pǒm dtɔ̂ng-gaan sʉ́ʉ rót prɔ́ ngaan mài yùu glai mâak/
(I “would like” buy car because job new “is located” far much/very)
I would like to buy a car because my new job is very far away.
If you “would like” to express that you “would like” for something to happen and you don’t necessarily need or want to express a reason, the more proper phrase to use would be อยากได้ /yàak-dâi/. If you look in some dictionaries it will tell you that this means “to want/to need” and not necessarily say “would like” but the intended meaning is the same. In the case of “I would like to buy a car” you would say:
ผมอยากได้ซื้อรถ
/pǒm yàak-dâi sʉ́ʉ rót/
(I “would like” buy car)
I would like to buy a car.
Again, if you’re traveling as a tourist you can certainly use ต้องการ and get away with it, but since we’re trying to improve our Thai language skills overall, it’s better to add an explanation or just use อยากได้ instead.
Edit: One Addition
(added on 10/17/2011)
If you read the comments below you’ll notice a discussion of the word เอา /ao/ (“to take”) and its use as a verb also meaning “to want.” If you are so inclined, please read the comments to see the entire conversation. If you’re a bit lazy and just want the good stuff, you can also use เอา as “to want.” The analogy is similar to how, in English, we say something like “I’ll take a large soda” to mean the same thing as “I want a large soda.” In using เอา there does not seem to be any requirement of adding more information or not as the case with ต้องการ and อยากได้.
“When using ต้องการ in a sentence, it is implied that you should provide a reason as to why you “would like” whatever” I didn’t know this, thanks Josh. I thought ต้องการ was a ‘need/must have’ until I conferred with a Thai friend. He said that it could be used in a sentence such as ‘I want one cup of coffee only’…I only ever thought เอา was used in these situation. However, after just now double checking my spelling of เอา, I’m surprised that it’s used so commonly considering its alternative meaning *blush*
Snap´s last [type] ..I can’t believe I’ve been spelling my name wrong.
As always I’m not 100% sure, but based on the conversations I’ve heard my wife have, I think เอา is used to mean that you don’t want something, but more specifically that you “don’t want to take” something. In other words, when someone offers you something you say you don’t want to take it, rather than just saying you don’t want it. I will ask and see if I can get more information about it.
Josh, it would be great if you can get more information. When I order a meal at my friend’s cafe, she often asks ‘เอาข้าวไหมคะ?’ because I don’t always want rice. And, when I forget my manners at a shop, I sometimes point to something and say ‘เอาอันนี่ค่ะ’…not saying it’s right, but it works
Snap´s last [type] ..I can’t believe I’ve been spelling my name wrong.
Perhaps I’ll turn it into another blog post if I can get enough correct information.
I will definitely let you know.
It would be great when you can get more information. Once i order meals within my friend’s cafe, she often asks? because I don’t always want rice. And, after i forget my manners in a shop, I sometimes indicate something and say? not saying it’s right, nevertheless it works.
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Great blog, Kirk!
I asked my wife this weekend, and she said that using เอา is perfectly acceptable. I means “to want” in the sense of actually meaning “to take.” For example, if you were trying to decide between a blue shirt and a red shirt and you told the shop owner “I’ll take the red shirt” you would use เอา. So in the same sense that we, in English, would use “I’ll take” as a substitute for “I want,” Thai people do the same thing.
I’m going to update the post to include this new information.
Funny how Kirk and I think almost identically!!!!
Mod has a video about the use of เอา, which is worth a view.
Snap´s last [type] ..So what does it cost to live in Thailand?
Awesome, thanks!
Learning is so much fun! Thanks for this post.. Love to visit here more often..
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The way my wife explained it to me is that เอา is for wanting objects (nouns) and อยาก is for wanting to perform an action. So either เอารถ or อยากซื้อรถ is OK, but เอาซื้อรถ makes no sense.
Thanks, Jan. Someday this will all make sense!
Jan, I agree with your wife, เอาซื้อรถ does not make sense because เอา is more like get/take…so, ‘get/take buy car’ sounds very odd.
We were taught that อยาก is a ‘desire/want’ and อยากได้ is ‘desire/want to get an object’.
I probably haven’t added anything very useful, but it’s good for me to revise…before I forget all of my Thai
Snap´s last [type] ..Thanks for everything. Leaving Chiang Mai
Josh,
Before going through Pimsleur’s Thai Level 1, I had never heard อยาก. My wife had taught me to use เอา any time I wanted something.
In the Pimsleur course อยาก is often used to express a want for something, but I have yet to hear anyone use อยากได้. To me this sounds more like I could want or a less decisive version. Like “I could go for some pizza” rather than “I want some pizza”.
What purpose does ได้ serve here?
To be honest, Wes, I’m not sure I can tell you 100% that ได้ specifically means “can” or “could” more so than just being combined with อยาก so it’s a phrase that means “to want.” I seem to hear my wife use เอา mostly when speaking about food. I’m not suggesting that’s the ONLY time, but that seems to be the most common. อยาก by itself is certainly acceptable. Does that make sense?
Hi guys, I’ve just stumbled across this conversation. Very interesting stuff, thanks!
I think I an help clear up the อยากได้ thing a little.
When my step-daughters see something they want (as all children do from time to time!) they will excitedly say อยากได้ อยากได้! as in “(I) want to have (that)” Whereas, when we are eating, if they are offered something they don’t want, they will say ไม่เอาค่ะ
Just reading back, I said I’d help clear it up didn’t I?
doesn’t seem as though I have really!
Anyway, when you want to go and do something…you อยากจะไป….whatever it is. You don’t เอาจะไป…
Also, just to make things clearer
you can give something to someone by saying เอา
for example, you can offer something in your hand to someone and say เอานี่ไปให้เเม่นะลูก “(here kid)take this and give it to your mum”
So, เอา is to take something and when you say ไม่เอา you are saying that you don’t want to take it. When you say อยากได้ you are saying that you want to have it.
All clear now? lol
Awesome, Biff, thank you for chiming in. I think what you’re saying is right in line with what we eventually all concluded as well, right? But it’s always great to have more voices speaking up and helping us (especially me) to navigate this language.
Thanks for the swift reply Josh.
Check this page out for more uses of the word ได้ http://thai-language.com/id/131409
it really isn’t simple is it?
If we were learning a language from the same family as our first language, one with Roman and Greek origins, a smattering of French and German thrown in for good measure, we’d already have the grammar pretty much down, we’d also have about 6,000 or so words that were very similar to what we knew.
An Asian language like Thai, has no connection whatsoever to our European language family, so we’re starting from scratch really.
Still, it’s an interesting journey!
I’m on Glenn’s site constantly, and I’m very familiar with that page. And to say it’s an “interesting” journey is an understatement! I think you just gave me an idea for another blog post, too. Stay tuned…