How to talk about May or
Maybe in Thai Language – Possibly – Probably
Hello everyone
In today’s Thai lesson I want to talk about future probability. There are many modal verbs expressing different levels of probability. The most common modal verbs used for expressing ‘May’ – ความเป็นไปได้ Possibility และความน่าจะเป็น Probability are:
อาจ(จะ) /àat (jà)/ = may/might
คง(จะ) /kong( jà)/ = will probably, sure to
ย่อม(จะ) /yɔ̂m( jà)/ = likely to
มัก(จะ) /mák(jà)/ = tends to, usually
เห็น(จะ) /hěn(jà)/ = seems that
jà = will and turns the tense of the verb into a future tense
The Thai Probability modal verbs are all positioned before the main verb and are used in the following way:
> Positive – May happen = modal verb (+ jà) + verb (phrase)
> Negative – Probably Not happen = modal verb (+ jà) + mâi + verb (phrase)
For example;
อาทิตย์หน้า ฉันอาจจะไปเกาะภูเก็ต /aa-tít nâa chán àat jà bpai gɔ̀ puu-gèt/
(Next week I may go to Phuket.)
ฉันหวังว่า เขาคงจะชอบ /chán wǎng wâa káo kong jà chɔ̂ɔp/
(I hope she will (probably) like it.)
ของแพงย่อมจะคุณภาพดีกว่า /kɔ̌ɔng pɛɛng yɔ̂m jà kun-ná-pâap dii-gwàa/
(Expensive items are likely to be better quality.)
เขามักจะพูดแบบนี้บ่อยๆ /káo mák jà pûut bɛ̀ɛp níi bɔ̀i bɔ̀i/
(He tends to talk like this often.)
เห็นจะยาก /hěn jà yâak/
(That seems difficult.)
I will probably go now!
I hope you now have a good idea how to talk about probability using modal verbs in Thai.
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Enjoy learning Thai ka 🙂
By Prae
Thai Language Teacher
