Asking Questions (mǎi, à-rai, châi mǎi, rěu yang)

Thai questions are easier than English questions, because Thai never rearranges anything. There is no inversion and no equivalent of do. You take the statement, keep every word where it was, and add one question tool: a particle at the end for yes/no, or a question word sitting in the slot where the answer would go. That second rule never varies. Wherever the answer is going to stand, the question word stands, and once you have seen it work three times you never have to think about word order again. Tool one: ไหม (mǎi) at the end makes any statement a yes/no question. เผ็ด (phèt) means spicy, so เผ็ดไหมครับ (phèt mǎi khráp) asks, is it spicy? มี (mii) means to have, so มีห้องน้ำไหมครับ (mii hâwng-náam mǎi khráp) asks, is there a bathroom? To answer, Thai does not use an all-purpose yes: you echo the verb. Spicy? เผ็ด (phèt) means yes it is, ไม่เผ็ด (mâi phèt) means no it is not. Keep the two little words apart by tone: mâi with falling tone (ไม่) means not, mǎi with rising tone (ไหม) is the question particle. On paper ไหม carries that rising tone. In ordinary speech it is said high, mái, and written มั้ย, which is what you meet on menus, in chat and in subtitles. It is the same word in casual clothing, and the high version is the one you will actually hear, so listen for a high syllable on the end of a sentence rather than for a rising one. One limit is worth knowing early: ไหม builds yes/no questions and nothing else. A sentence that already contains a question word is already a question and needs nothing hung on the end of it, so ไปไหนครับ (bpai nǎi khráp), where are you going, is complete as it stands. One thing looks like an exception to that and is not. Thai question words double as indefinites: อะไร is also anything, ไหน is also any. That is why มีอันไหนถูกกว่านี้ไหมครับ (mii an-nǎi thùuk-gwàa níi mǎi khráp) is do you have any cheaper one, a plain yes/no question with ไหม doing its ordinary job, and it is the same double life that lets ก็ได้ turn a question word into an answer. Tool two: อะไร (à-rai) means what, and it sits exactly where the answer will sit, usually at the end. นี่อะไรครับ (nîi à-rai khráp), what is this, said while pointing, is the single best vocabulary-building sentence you own. Its partner is อันนี้เรียกว่าอะไรครับ (an-níi rîak wâa à-rai khráp), what is this one called, which asks for the name rather than for the thing. You will also hear อะไร aimed at you: a vendor's เอาอะไรครับ (ao à-rai khráp) and a waiter's รับอะไรดีครับ (ráp à-rai dii khráp) both mean, what would you like? Tool three: ที่ไหน (thîi-nǎi) means where, again at the end, usually glued on with อยู่ (yùu), the verb for being located. ห้องน้ำอยู่ที่ไหนครับ (hâwng-náam yùu thîi-nǎi khráp), where is the bathroom, works in every building in Thailand. Swap the first word and the sentence follows you everywhere: the pattern is [thing] yùu thîi-nǎi khráp. In speech the ที่ usually drops, ห้องน้ำอยู่ไหนครับ (hâwng-náam yùu nǎi khráp), and for whereabouts exactly it is ตรงไหน (dtrong-nǎi). The words that come back at you in the answer are on saying where things are. Those three run your day, and the rest of the set works identically. ใคร (khrai) is who, and because it takes the answer's slot it moves around the sentence: as the subject it comes first, ใครโทรมาครับ (khrai thoo maa khráp), who rang; as the object it comes last, พูดกับใครครับ (phûut gàp khrai khráp), who were you speaking to. Whose is ของใคร (khǎwng khrai): อันนี้ของใครครับ (an-níi khǎwng khrai khráp). เมื่อไหร่ (mêua-rài) is when, and it normally goes at the end, กลับมาเมื่อไหร่ครับ (glàp maa mêua-rài khráp), when are you back. It can also front the sentence, เมื่อไหร่จะเสร็จครับ (mêua-rài jà sèt khráp), when will it be done, which is how you chase something up. But Thai splits the English when three ways, and answering one with another gets you a blank look: a clock time is กี่โมง (gìi moong), a date is วันที่เท่าไหร่ (wan-thîi thâo-rài), and a length of time is a different question again. Telling the time owns the clock, and how long, since when and how often keeps when, how long and since when apart. ทำไม (tham-mai) is the exception to the slot rule, because a reason has no slot to sit in. It normally goes at the front, ทำไมไม่กินครับ (tham-mai mâi gin khráp), why aren't you eating. It can also sit at the end, ซื้อทำไมครับ (séu tham-mai khráp), what did you buy that for, and that version is the pointed one. Front it while you are learning. The answer opens with เพราะว่า (phráw wâa), and the fuller shape ทำไมถึง (tham-mai thěung) asks how it came about that, as in ทำไมถึงมาเมืองไทยครับ (tham-mai thěung maa meuang-thai khráp), why is it that you came to Thailand. Have an answer ready for that one. Because, so and the connector gaw has the answers. ทำไม also needs a care the other question words do not. Pointed at somebody's own decision it asks them to justify themselves, and that is a heavier thing to ask here than the English why suggests. Soften it, or ask something else: a ยังไง or an อะไร question will usually get you the same information without putting anyone on the spot. ยังไง (yang-ngai) is how in the sense of by what means, and it follows the verb: ไปยังไงครับ (bpai yang-ngai khráp), how do I get there, ใช้ยังไงครับ (chái yang-ngai khráp), how do you use this. อย่างไร (yàang-rai) is the same question in written dress; you read it on forms and hear it in formal speech, and you do not say it at a noodle stall. The written yes/no ending belongs to the same register: หรือไม่ (rěu mâi), which you tick rather than say. With บ้าง, ยังไง becomes the everyday opener เป็นยังไงบ้างครับ (bpen yang-ngai bâang khráp), how's it going. Two words split the English how much and they do not swap. เท่าไหร่ (thâo-rài) asks for an amount and stands on its own at the end: อันนี้เท่าไหร่ครับ (an-níi thâo-rài khráp), how much is this, and เดือนละเท่าไหร่ครับ (deuan-lá thâo-rài khráp), how much a month, which is the rent question. กี่ (gìi) asks for a count and never stands alone; it takes a classifier or a unit on its right. กี่คน (gìi khon) how many people, กี่วัน (gìi wan) how many days, กี่ที่ (gìi thîi) how many portions, กี่โมง (gìi moong) what time. The answer repeats the unit, so กี่วัน comes back as สามวัน and not as a bare สาม. The classifier chart is the list to read down, and numbers covers what goes in front of it. Beside those, แค่ไหน (khâe-nǎi) turns a quality into a question of degree: นานแค่ไหนครับ (naan khâe-nǎi khráp), how long, บ่อยแค่ไหนครับ (bàwy khâe-nǎi khráp), how often. ไหน (nǎi) is the bare stem behind both ที่ไหน and อันไหน. After a verb of motion or location it is where, ไปไหนครับ, อยู่ไหนครับ. Clipped onto a noun it is which, and it goes on the back of whatever you are choosing between: อันไหน (an-nǎi) which one, ร้านไหน (ráan nǎi) which shop, คนไหน (khon nǎi) which person, ชั้นไหน (chán nǎi) which floor, วันไหน (wan nǎi) which day. In a shop it gives you มีอันไหนถูกกว่านี้ไหมครับ, which puts the question on what is in the shop rather than on what the seller is charging; comparing things takes that further. Two small words then change what any question word expects back. บ้าง (bâang) asks for a list rather than a single item: มีอะไรบ้างครับ (mii à-rai bâang khráp), what have you got, ต้องใช้เอกสารอะไรบ้างครับ (dtâwng chái èek-gà-sǎan à-rai bâang khráp), which documents do I need. And ก็ได้ (gâw dâi) turns a question word into an answer meaning any: อะไรก็ได้ครับ (à-rai gâw dâi khráp), anything, วันไหนก็ได้ครับ (wan nǎi gâw dâi khráp), any day. That set is worth taking whole from the three ways to say "can". Now the part that costs learners the most, because it stays invisible until somebody answers a question you did not ask. Thai has more than one yes/no ending, they are not stylistic variants of each other, and the one you choose settles what comes back. Learn them as pairs, question ending and answer together, and you stop guessing. ไหม is the neutral one, and it gets the verb back, or ไม่ plus the verb. ใช่ไหม (châi mǎi) is the tag, right?, and it hangs on something you already half believe: คุณอยู่ที่นี่ใช่ไหมครับ (khun yùu thîi-nîi châi mǎi khráp), you live here, don't you. It gets ใช่ (châi) or ไม่ใช่ (mâi châi), not the verb, because ใช่ judges a statement to be correct and a plain ไหม question has put no statement in front of you to judge. หรือเปล่า (rěu bplàao), said รึเปล่า (réu bplàao), is or not: flat and neutral, and because it names the refusal inside the question it does not lean on the other person for a yes. ไปหรือเปล่าครับ (bpai rěu bplàao khráp) gets the verb back, or a bare เปล่า (bplàao). หรือยัง (rěu yang), said รึยัง (réu yang), is yet, and it ends กินข้าวหรือยังครับ (gin khâao rěu yang khráp), have you eaten, which is as much a greeting as a question. It gets แล้ว (láew) or ยัง (yang), and ยัง on its own is the complete answer. ได้ไหม (dâi mǎi) asks about the possible and the permitted, and what comes back is ได้ or ไม่ได้ rather than the main verb. Standing apart from all five is เหรอ (rǒe), also written หรอ, which is not a neutral enquiry at all: it carries mild surprise, or a check on something you did not expect. เอาไหมครับ asks whether you want it; เอาเหรอครับ asks whether you really do. The yes half of these is set out on saying yes and OK, which pairs ไหม, ใช่ไหม, หรือเปล่า, หรือยัง and ได้ไหม with the answer each takes, and the refusing half is on saying no; this page is only the asking end. One shape catches every English speaker, and it is worth carrying away from here even though the answers live elsewhere. A negative question is agreed with by repeating the negative: ไม่ไปเหรอ (mâi bpai rǒe), you're not going?, is confirmed with ไม่ไปครับ (mâi bpai khráp) and contradicted with ไปครับ (bpai khráp). Repeat the verb in whichever form is true and there is nothing left to misread. The last piece is not grammar. A question puts the person in front of you under an obligation to answer, and this is a society organised around not imposing, which is the เกรงใจ (greeng-jai) that face, jai yen and greeng-jai sets out. English builds the apology into the verb: could you possibly, would you mind. Thai leaves the verb bare and bolts the courtesy on around it in separate small words. So a correctly formed Thai question with nothing attached to it is not rude, but it is bare, and to a stranger bare reads as impatient. Four things do that work. ครับ and ค่ะ are the floor rather than the ceiling: never ask a stranger anything without one. Women take an extra step here, because ค่ะ ends a statement and คะ ends a question, ไปไหนคะ (bpai nǎi khá), เท่าไหร่คะ (thâo-rài khá), and after นะ it is always the high คะ whatever the sentence is doing. หน่อย (nàwy), a little, shrinks the size of what you are asking; it belongs on a request rather than on a bare question word, so ขอดูหน่อยครับ (khǎw duu nàwy khráp) but never on เท่าไหร่. นะ (ná) turns an instruction into a request and a question into something shared rather than demanded, and it goes in front of the politeness particle, นะครับ and not ครับนะ. And ได้ไหมครับ on the end converts a directive into a question, which hands the other person a way out. The little words at the end of sentences is the full account of these and of how many of each a sentence will carry, khráp and khâ covers the politeness pair, and requests builds them into asking for things. Four openers do the rest, and what separates them is register rather than politeness. ขอโทษนะครับ (khǎw-thôot ná khráp) is the cold approach: it announces that you are about to take up someone's time, and it works on a pavement, at a counter or across an office. ขอถามหน่อยครับ (khǎw thǎam nàwy khráp), may I ask you something, is for anybody who is not paid to help you, a passer-by, a neighbour, a colleague, and it is worth having automatic. รบกวนครับ (róp-guan khráp), literally to disturb, is the sorry-to-trouble-you version, and it is the one requests pairs with officials. ไม่ทราบว่า (mâi sâap wâa) goes on the front of the question itself and means, literally, I do not know whether: ไม่ทราบว่าห้องน้ำอยู่ที่ไหนครับ (mâi sâap wâa hâwng-náam yùu thîi-nǎi khráp). It works because it puts the gap on you rather than the duty on them. ทราบ is the polite รู้, so ไม่ทราบว่า leans formal, which makes it right at a counter, in an office and to anyone senior, and a little starched at a food stall. Above all of them sits ขออนุญาตถามหน่อยครับ (khǎw à-nú-yâat thǎam nàwy khráp), which belongs to the official register. Two footnotes to ไม่ทราบว่า. The first is that ไม่ทราบ comes back at you: ไม่ทราบครับ (mâi sâap khráp) from the person you asked means I do not know, and hearing it early is good news about every answer that is not it. The second is that ว่า is not tied to ไม่ทราบ. It fronts an embedded question generally, so อยากทราบว่า (yàak sâap wâa), I would like to know whether, and ไม่แน่ใจว่า (mâi nâe-jai wâa), I am not sure whether, do the same work; giving and receiving opinions builds on that frame. Two moves close the loop. The first is the echo: repeat what you were told back to the person with ใช่ไหมครับ on the end, and you have checked it without doubting anybody. ยี่สิบห้าบาทใช่ไหมครับ (yîi-sìp-hâa bàat châi mǎi khráp) confirms the figure before the money leaves your hand, and เรียบร้อยแล้วใช่ไหมครับ (rîap-ráwy láew châi mǎi khráp), that is everything done, is it, is the one to ask before you walk away from a counter. When what is being read back to you is a number, a spelling or an address, the counter register for correct is ถูกต้องครับ (thùuk-dtâwng khráp). A lighter version of the echo is เหรอครับ on its own when you are simply surprised. The second move is handing the question back, which is what ล่ะ is for: you answer, then you say แล้วคุณล่ะครับ (láew khun lâ khráp), and it is their turn. It is the cheapest way there is to keep a conversation moving. When you did not catch what was said, the sentence to reach for is not a bare question word. อะไรนะครับ (à-rai ná khráp) is the whole thing, and the นะ is carrying it; without it you have said only what. Better still, name the problem and ask for the fix: ไม่เข้าใจครับ (mâi khâo-jai khráp), พูดอีกทีได้ไหมครับ (phûut ìik thii dâi mǎi khráp), ช่วยพูดช้า ๆ หน่อยครับ (chûay phûut cháa-cháa nàwy khráp). Greetings and small talk and asking directions have the not-understanding and slow-down lines written out with audio, most of them for a man and for a woman. Two habits are worth more than the rest of this page. Ask with a question word rather than with a particle whenever the answer matters, because a ไหม question can be closed with a polite noise and a ใคร, a เมื่อไหร่ or a กี่โมง question cannot: it forces content. And repeat the answer back with ใช่ไหมครับ before you leave. Between them they turn a conversation you half followed into one you can act on.