ได้ (ความสามารถ)

Can — After the Verb

Level 1

Verb + ได้ (dâai) = Can / Be able to / May.
Used for general ability, including learned skills, as well as situational possibility or permission.

How It Works

Ability And Context
When ได้ follows the action phrase in these examples, it functions as a marker of general ability, possibility, or permission.
Use ได้ for general ability, including learned skills, as well as situational possibility (having the time or opportunity) or permission. Context determines which meaning is intended.
Use เป็น to specifically express knowing how to perform an acquired skill (like knowing how to swim). The related entry for ไหว compares being physically up to an action.

Read The Whole Phrase
ผมไปได้ says I can go. วันนี้ไปได้ places today before the action; it does not name a subject or give the reason. In จอดรถที่นี่ได้ไหม, ได้ follows parking here, and ไหม turns the permission question into a yes-or-no question. The question particle follows ได้, so ได้ is not necessarily the final word of a sentence.

Food And Swimming
กินได้ can describe something as edible or say that eating it is possible or allowed in context. The words alone do not establish a particular food's safety. คุณว่ายน้ำได้ไหม can ask about general swimming ability or the current circumstances; it does not say that the person already learned to swim.

Compare The Two Exercises
For the intended meaning I can speak Thai, choose ผมพูดไทยได้. ผมได้พูดไทย places ได้ before speaking and can express getting to speak or a realized speaking event in context. It is a different meaning, rather than an inherently ungrammatical sentence.
For the intended meaning cannot go, choose ไปไม่ได้. ไม่ได้ไป instead denies going. The surrounding context supplies time; this contrast does not make every pre-verbal ไม่ได้ a past-tense marker. See the separate Verb + ไม่ได้ entry for its inability examples.

Examples (5)

  1. ผมไปได้

    I can go.

    Word by Word: I | go | can

    ได้ follows ไป and expresses ability or possibility. The sentence does not itself state whether permission, free time or another circumstance makes going possible.

  2. วันนี้ไปได้

    Can go today.

    Word by Word: today | go | can

    วันนี้ gives the time as today. No subject is stated; the speaker or another person is understood from context.

  3. จอดรถที่นี่ได้ไหม

    Can I park here?

    Word by Word: park | car | here | can | question particle

    The question asks whether parking here is allowed in this context. ไหม follows ได้. The natural translation supplies I, while the Thai sentence leaves the subject understood.

  4. กินได้

    It is edible / I can eat it.

    Word by Word: eat | can

    With food as the understood topic, กินได้ can describe it as edible. With a person as the understood subject, it can express being able or allowed to eat. The situation selects the reading.

  5. คุณว่ายน้ำได้ไหม

    Can you swim?

    Word by Word: you | swim | can | question particle

    This can ask whether the person can swim in general or in the current circumstances. ได้ does not by itself restrict the question to a temporary situation; เป็น can more specifically ask whether the person knows how to swim.

Common Mistakes

  • Ability Or Getting To Speak

    ผมได้พูดไทย
    ผมพูดไทยได้

    For I can speak Thai in this task, choose ผมพูดไทยได้. The alternative ผมได้พูดไทย can express getting to speak Thai or a realized speaking event in context. Moving ได้ changes the intended meaning; it does not make every pre-verbal ได้ a past-tense marker or make the alternative universally ungrammatical.

  • Cannot Go Or Did Not Go

    ไม่ได้ไป
    ไปไม่ได้

    For the requested meaning cannot go, choose ไปไม่ได้. ไม่ได้ไป denies going and can be translated did not go when the context places the event in the past. Both forms can be grammatical in their own contexts; the task compares their meanings.

How It Connects

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ได้ (ความสามารถ)Level 1Can — After the Verb

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ได้