One of the first things you should do when you start learning Thai is to understand how to form Yes/ No questions and learn how to give the correct “YES” or “NO” answer. Many students understand that “ใช่ /châi/” is used for answering “YES” to every question which is WRONG. In this lesson, I am going to explain how to answer “yes” and “no” to basic Yes/No questions. To be able to give the correct YES or NO answer, you need to pay attention to the question- what kind of question it being asked?
- Information-seeking question word:
Here is the pattern that we use to form basic yes/no questions;
Subject + adjective +ไหม mái ?
or
Subject + verb +object +ไหม mái ?
*NOTE: There are two ways to write the question particle used for yes/no questions
- ไหม /măi/ which is used in formal written Thai
- มั้ย /mái/ which is used spoken Thai or informal writing such as on social media or texting friends or family.
You may be interested to watch this video to listen to my pronunciation on ไหม mái 2.Information-seeking question word (more direct) รึเปล่า /rúe bplàao/ is similar to the question word “ไหม mái” but it sounds more direct and it demands a straight yes or no answer.
A sentence + รึเปล่า rúe bplàao ?
Examples: คุณหิวรึเปล่า /kun hĭu rúe bplàao ?/ Are you hungry? คุณแน่ใจรึเปล่า /kun nâe-jai rúe bplàao?/ Are you sure? เขาอยากมารึเปล่า /káo yàak maa rúe bplàao? / Does she want to come? *NOTE: In spoken Thai, รึเปล่า /rúe-bplào/ is shorten to ป่ะ/bpà?/ Example: “Do you like Thai food?” can be phrased in three different ways; 1.คุณชอบอาหารไทยไหม /kun chôrp aa-hăan tai mái?/ 2.คุณชอบอาหารไทยรึเปล่า/ kun chôrp aa-hăan tai rúe-bplàao?/ 3.คุณชอบอาหารไทยป่ะ/ kun chôrp aa-hăan tai bpà?/ 3. Question for confirming assumption
A sentence + เหรอ rĕr?
*NOTE: เหรอ / rĕr/ is pronounced like ‘หลอ lăw” in spoken Thai. Thai people use this question word in these scenarios:
- To form a yes/no question with the sense of surprise/curiosity. This is similar to when you only raise your tone in english to form a question.
Examples: -จริงเหรอ /jing rĕr/ = Really? – หิวแล้วเหรอ /hĭw láew rĕr/ = You’re hungry already? ( we just ate.) – เค้ามีลูกแล้วเหรอ /káo mii lûuk láew rĕr/ = She has a child already? (she looks so young and fit) 2. เหรอ rĕr is used when you assume something and you would like to seek a confirmation for something that you already believe to be true.
คุณง่วงนอนเหรอ /kun ngûang-nawn rĕr/ You are sleepy?
In the above example question, you are making the assumption that the person you are speaking to is sleepy, and you are asking for confirmation.
HOW TO ANSWER “YES” or “NO”:
[1] Repeat the verb
Answer to a simple ไหม /mái/ , รึเปล่า / rúe bplàao? / and เหรอ / rĕr/question is formed as follows: YES : repeating the VERB or ADJECTIVE from the question NO : “ไม่ mâi” + VERB/ADJECTIVE
Examples:
ประเทศไทยร้อนไหม
/bprá-têet tai ráwn mái?/
Is Thailand hot?
YES: ร้อน ráwn NO: ไม่ร้อน mâi ráwn
คุณชอบปลารึเปล่า
/kun châwp bplaa rúe-bplàao?/
Do you like fish?
YES: ชอบ châwp NO: ไม่ชอบ mâi châwp If the question includes more than one verb, the first verb is normally used in responses.
อยากไปดูหนังไหม
/yàak bpai duu năng mái?/
Would you like to go to see a movie?
YES: อยาก yàak
NO: ไม่อยาก mâi yàak
คุณง่วงนอนเหรอ
/kun ngûang-nawn rĕr/
You are sleepy?
YES: ง่วง /ngûang/
NO: ไม่ง่วง /mâi ngûang/
- Question asking “can you?”
When you would like to ask if someone has ability to do something, this question structure is used:
Subject +Verb + dâai mái? ได้ไหม / ได้มั้ย
Example:
Can you speak English?
คุณพูดภาษาอังกฤษได้ไหม
kun pûut paa-săa ang-grìt dâai-mái?
Can she read Thai?
คุณอ่านภาษาไทยได้ไหม
kun àan paa-săa tai dâai-mái?
Can you eat spicy food?
คุณกินเผ็ดได้ไหม
kun gin pèt dâai-mái?
[2] HOW TO ANSWER “YES” or “NO” to dâai mái? ได้ไหม:
Yes : ได้ dâai
No : ไม่ได้ mâi dâai
You see? We don’t use ใช่ /châi/ as “YES” in all FOUR above questions.
When to use “ใช่ châi“?
The word “ใช่ châi” means “right or correct” so we say this word when you want to say “that is correct” or “that’s right!” The most common situation where Thai people will use “ใช่ châi” is when they answer to the question ใช่ไหม or ใช่มั้ย /châi mái/. This question particle is used to confirm information or understanding. It translates “is that right?”. Examples;
เขามาจากอังกฤษใช่ไหม
/káo maa jàak ang-grìt, châi-mái?/
He is from England, right?
YES: ใช่ /châi/ = That is right. (The answer confirms that he is from England.) NO: ไม่ใช่ /mâi châi/ = That is not right. เขามาจากสก็อตแลนด์ /káo maa jàak Scotland/ He is from Scotland.
คุณไม่ชอบกินเบียร์ใช่ไหม
/kun mâi châwp gin bia,châi-mái?/
You don’t like drinking beer, do you?
YES: ใช่ /châi/ That is right. (The answer confirms that I don’t like drinking beer.) NO: ไม่ใช่ /mâi châi/ That is not right. (The answer says your understanding/information is wrong. I actually like drinking beer).
คุณอยากอยู่บ้านใช่ไหม
/kun yàak yùu bâan, châi-mái?/
You want to stay home, don’t you?
YES: ใช่ /châi/ = That is right. (The answer confirms that I wan to stay home.) NO: ไม่ใช่ /mâi châi/ = That is not right. (The answer says your understanding/information is wrong. I actually want to go out!).
พวกเขาเป็นตำรวจใช่ไหม
/pûak-káo bpen dtam-rùat, châi-mái?/
They are policemen, aren’t they?
YES: ใช่ /châi/ = That is right. (The answer confirms that they are policemen.) NO: ไม่ใช่ /mâi châi/ = That is not right. (The answer says your understanding/information is wrong. They are not policemen.)
MORE WAYS TO SAY “YES” IN THAI:
-
Say ‘ค่ะ kâ’ or ‘ครับkráb’
If you are not sure how to give the “yes” answer correctly, you can use the shortcut and just use the polite particle ‘ค่ะ kâ’ for female speakers and ‘ครับkráb’ for male speakers. Example:
คุณมาจากออสเตรเลียเหรอ
/kun maa jàak Australia rĕr/ You are from Australia, is that so?
YES: ‘ค่ะ kâ’ or ‘ครับkráb’
2. Say ‘ได้ dâai’ for “absolutely, sure or of course!”
When someone invite you to do something together such as a friend invtite you to join dinner, to watch a movie, to go on a holiday together etc. , you could say ได้ /dâai/ for the case of confirming the possibility. Example 1:
John: เสาร์หน้ามากินข้าวเที่ยงที่บ้านผมไหม
/săo nâa maa gin kâao tîang tîi bâan pŏm mái?/
Would you like to come for lunch at my place next Saturday?
Jane: ได้ /dâai/
Sure! I would love to.
Example 2:
Mod: พรุ่งนี้ไปดื่มคอกเทลที่ Chi bar กันไหม
/prûng-níi bpai dùem cocktail tîi chi baa gan mái/
Shall we go for some cocktails tomorrow at Chi bar?
Manee: ได้ ฉันอยากไปที่นั่นมานานแล้ว
/dâai, chán yàak bpai tîi nân maa naan láew/
Sure, I have been wanting to go there for a long time
-
Say ก็ได้ /gâw dâai/
Thai people use ก็ได้ /gâw-dâai/ when accepting a suggestion that you might not find interesting but you don’t want to say no. We also use this response to accept the alternative/option As English speakers would say ” that’s fine“. Example 1 : Two friends are talking
A: ไปกินต้มยำหม้อไฟกัน
/bpai gin dtôm-yam mâw fai gan/
Let’s go get Tom Yam hot pot to eat.
B: ก็ได้
/gâw-dâai/
Fine. (You may not want to eat Tom Yam but you can try.)
Example 2:
A: เราเจอกันวันศุกร์แทนวันเสาร์ดีไหม
/rao jer gan wan sùk taen wan săo dii mái/
Shall we meet on Friday instead of Saturday?
B: ก็ได้
/gâw-dâai/
Fine. (You don’t prefer one to another, anything is fine by you.)
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Sanuk ,kopkun kaa
Very helpful info on the different ways of saying yes and no. Someone once told me just use chai and mai chai but I can see note that’s wrong.
I guess saying gâw dâai is like saying “Ok, whatever” in English.
By the way, a Thai person once made fun of my Australian accent, saying “gaw daai mite” – that is, “good day mate.”
Thank you for your kind comment. I am happy to hear that you learned something new from my site.
The Australian joke – that’s funny. 555
Sawatdee ka Kru Mod,
may I know if it is possible to start with a verb in front of the sentence. For example, if I want to ask “is shopping at japan fun”, can I write: Chɔppin thii pratheet yiipun sanuk rəə kha
Thank you, would greatly appreciate your help:)
Yes you can start the sentence with a verb. The question you formed is very good, I would correct only one thing which is the question word – it should be “มั้ย /mái/?” –> Chɔppin thii pratheet yiipun sanuk mai kha?
Thank you for your reply 😀
I will answer to the question like this: yes: เป็นคะ (bpen ka) or no: ไม่ใช่คะ (mâi châi ka). Is it right?
Kop kun ka Kru Mod. ^_^
In my opinion, when you answer “yes”, you’d better say ใช่ค่ะ.
Sawatdee ka Kru Mod,
I have a question that is how to say “Is she a teacher?” in Thai.
Kornkun ka KruMod 😀
Sawatdee ka, it is “เขาเป็นครูรึเปล่า” kao bpen kruu rue-bplaao?
Hi , would you please help me , I want to learn thai language .
Regardes
nasser
The writing ” มั้ย” (Mai) and the “ไหม” are the same na krup.
Great Website. Learning thai this way is fun! One question: is ไหม the same as มั้ย ? I see the first in the text and the second in the video. Thank you for all the good info here 🙂
Sawasdii ka Para,
Thank you for your question.
The question word used to form Yes/No question “mái” (high tone), to put it in writing it is “ไหม” (măi – writing language) but it is pronounced as “มั้ย” (mái -speaking language).
When I made my video I was afraid that the audience would be confused if it should be rising tone or high tone, so I decided to write it as the way it is pronounced which is high tone มั้ย. But later when I wrote the blog I thought I better write in Thai script in writing language ไหม. That’s why they are different.
To make it easy to understand, when you speak you say mái (มั้ย) but when you write it, write ไหม (măi) .
I am sorry if I confused you. Please feel free to ask me any questions:)
kop kun ka
Mod
hi ,its gud that i learning more about thai language,so as i got more knowledge for yes /no question,..in the last video a question been asked by mod ,and the answer is yes,so mod can u plz tel me how to wright the yes in thai language,,the quetion was,,,wi-dioo-ssa-nuk-mai?
The yes answer to “mai?” question is repeating the verb/adjective from the question.
Question: wi-di-oo sa-nuk mai?
Answer : sa-nuk krap สนุกครับ