Say I can (Dai) and I can’t (Dai Mai) in Thai

Useful Phrase in Thai: Learn to express can’t and can’t in Thai

Dai means power and Mai dai means cannot.

To express that you can do something in Thai, you can use the word “Dai” which means, can. If you want to express that you cannot do something, simply negate the verb dai with “Mai”.

Dai krap / ka.

Yes I can.

Mai dai krap / ka.

No I can not

In Thailand, you would use the polite particle krap at the end of your sentence if you are male and ka if you are female. The purpose of using krap or ka is to make the sentence polite, just like the Japanese version of -masu.

Let’s say you want to ask someone if they can speak Thai. How would you ask him in Thai?

Koon poot passed Thai dai mai?

Can you speak Thai?

Koon is you, Poot means speaking and passa is language. Literally, the sentence above would mean “You speak the Thai language, can you?”

May, before a verb = no / no

After a verb = question marker

As you may have noticed, May, when used before a verb, means no or no. If used after a verb, it acts like the Japanese version of ka: a question marker.

Learning Thai is not difficult at all if you have someone to practice with. If you want to speed up the learning process, be sure to find a Thai friend who is willing to speak Thai with you. You can easily find them on skype, msn or other social network.