Thai Language, the Thai utility word ได้ (dâai– “can”)

Khun ruu à~rai. Khrap. Khun dâai khrap!

Thai Language, the Thai utility word ได้ (dâai– “can”)

There are many “utility” words in the Thai language; words that have several different meanings and serve multiple grammatical functions depending on how they are used.

Probably the most frequently used of these words is ได้ (dâai– “can”). There are many ways in which it is is used grammatically in sentence structures and it has a number of meanings depending on the context and structure in which it is used.

Its principal vocabulary meaning is "can/be able to" but it also has the following meanings:

can (able to)

could  (be able to)

okay!

attain (obtain)

get (take, receive)

obtain (get, gain)

realise (obtain)

The most common way that ได้ is used is when placed after a verb. Here it means “can/be able to.”

For example;

ผมไปตลาดได

pǒm pbai dtà-làat dâai

(I go market can)

I can go to the market.

To form the negative of this statement use ไม่ได้ (mâi dâai– “cannot”) instead of ได้ ("can").

For example;

ผมไปตลาดไม่ได้

pǒm pbai dtà-làat mâi dâai

(I go market cannot)

I cannot go to the market.

The Question Phrase  "dâai mái?"

Equally as important is the question sentence structure dâai mái ไมั้ย (Can ?). In any Thai conversation you will hear this expression used many times.

For example;

พาผมไปที่ตลาดไมั้ย

pah pǒm pbai têe dtà~làht dâai mái?

(bring me go to market can?)

Can you take me to the market?

To which the answer is either "dâai" can or "mâi-dâai" cannot.

The next most common meaning is "to get/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 dâai bpai dtà-làat

(I get to go market)

I get to go to the market.

By adding แล้ว (láeo– “already”) at the end of the sentence you are inferring “as you told me to do.”

ผมได้ไปตลาดแล้ว

pǒm dâi bpai dtà-làat láeo

(As you told me to go market already)

I went to the market (as you told me to do).

"Okay" and “Whatever”

When the word gâw ก็ (meaning "then") is placed in front of dâai it forms the word gâw dâai  ก็ได้ meaning "okay" or "it's allright".

For example;

จอดที่นี่ก็ได้

jàwt têe-nêe gâw dâai

(park here then can)

It's okay to park here

The expressions whatever/whoever/

whenever/however are formed when you add the wors à~rai อะไร, krai ใคร, mûea-rai เมื่อไร, or yàhng-rai อย่างไร in front of ได้ก็ได้ (gâw dâai).

For example;

กินอะไรก็ได้

gin à rai gâw dâai

(eat what then can)

Eat whatever.

เราไปเมื่อไรก็ได้

rao bpai mʉ̂a-rai gâw dâai

(we go when then can)

We can go whenever.

Also note that in this case ได้ is pronounced with a long vowel — dâai.

Did not (past tense)

When mâi-dâai ไม่ได้ is placed before a verb, it takes on the meaning of “did not" or past tense such as:

ผมไม่ได้ไปตลาด

pǒm mâi dâi bpai dtà-làat

(I did not go market)

I did not go to the market.

Can Do Adequately พอได้ paw dâai enough can

Subject +Verb + Object + พอได้ / พอจะ (Verb) ได้

For example;

ผมเล่นกีตาร์พอได้

pǒm lên gii-dtaa paw dâai

(I play guitar enough can)

I can play guitar well.

Well enough /adequately

พอ paw (enough) + (Verb) + ได้ dâai (can)

พอวิ่งได้

paw wîng dâai

(enough run can)

I can run well enough.

พอเข้าใจได้

paw kôw-jai dâai

(enough understand can)

I understand well enough.

Might Be Able To

Put ได้ at the end of the sentence.

ผมอาจจะกินได้

pǒm àat jà gin dâai

(I maybe eat can)

I might be able to eat.

Some 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

dâai láeo

It’s possible: เป็นไปได้

bpen  bpai dâai

It’s impossible: เป็นไปไม่ได้ bpen bpai mâi dâai

Is it possible?: เป็นไปได้ไหม bpen dâai mǎi?

Present Perfect Tens

ได้ is also used as an auxiliary verb to indicate present perfect tense.

Present Perfect tense means that the action occurred in the past and continues to the present.

For example:

ผมได้วิ่งมาราธอน

pǒm dâi wîng wîng-mah-rah-tawn

(I have run marathon)

“I have run a marathon.”

What is implied here is that the speaker has, at some point in the past, run a marathon. Not necessarily an hour ago, but at some point.

Where the use of ได้ in this situation gets a bit tricky is that it usually requires you provide more information about the subject. In other words, you would be more inclined to say ผมได้วิ่งมาราธอน rather than ผมได้วิ่ง. Although you will probably be understood by native Thai speakers, it does not sound as natural as it would to just say ผมวิ่งแล้ว

pǒm wîng láeo.

Here’s another example:

ผมได้ดื่มกาแฟก่อนขับรถ

pǒm dâi dùem gah-fae gàwn kàp rót

(I have drink coffee before drive car)

“I drank coffee before driving.”

One method to understand when to use ได้ is to think of “have done something.”

Many thanks to Josh Sager. Much of this was borrowed and expanded upon from his great blog Learning Thai at http://blog.joshsager.com/. Check it out