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.
First, let’s have a look at how to form the questions. It is simple…if you understand how to construct basic Thai statements using the pattern:
[Subject + verb + object] or [subject + adjective]
Statements are transformed into questions that require a simple yes/no question answer by adding the question particles to the end of the statement:
You will see 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.
And here is the pattern that we use to form basic yes/no questions;
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Subject + adjective +ไหม mái ? or Subject + verb +object +ไหม mái ?
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HOW TO ANSWER “YES” or “NO”
Answer to a simple ไหม /mái/ question is formed as follows:
YES : repeating the VERB or ADJECTIVE from the question
NO : “ไม่ mâi” + VERB/ADJECTIVE
For example;
- ประเทศไทยไหม bprá-têet tai ráwn mái? (Is Thailand hot?)
YES: ร้อน ráwn
NO: ไม่ร้อน mâi ráwn
2. คุณชอบปลาไหม kun châwp bplaa mái? (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.
3. อยากไปดูหนังไหม yàak bpai duu năngmái? (Would you like to go to see a movie?)
YES: อยาก yàak
NO: ไม่อยาก mâi yàak
TIPS: You should add a polite particle if you would like to sound polite. ครับ /kráp/ for male speakers and ค่ะ /kâ/ for female speakers.
There are other yes/no question particles you might see in textbooks or hear a Thai say:
– หรือ /rŭe/ is obsolete, no one is using this one as a question word anymore. It is used for ‘or’.
– รึเปล่า /rúe-bplào/ and ไหม /mái/ are almost interchangeable, the question with รึเปล่า /rúe-bplào/ just sound more direct. 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?/
So, I would like to remind you to not use the word “ใช่ châi” to give the answer “yes” when someone asks you a question with ไหม /măi or รึเปล่า /rúe-bplàao/, and other yes/no questions which I will talk about in the future lessons.
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?”.
For example;
- 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.
2. 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).
3. 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!).
4. 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.).
I hope you find this lesson useful, and it helps to correct your misunderstanding. If you would like to learn more questions in Thai as well as how to answer them correctly, please let me know in the comment below. 🙂
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