Verb + ไม่ได้

Cannot Do It

Level 3

The examples use ไปไม่ได้ for inability to go, จอดรถตรงนี้ไม่ได้ for parking not being allowed here, กินเผ็ดไม่ได้ for inability to eat spicy food, and เปิดประตูไม่ได้ for inability to open a door.

How It Works

Read The Actual Word Order
In the four examples, ไม่ได้ follows the action phrase. วันนี้ไปไม่ได้ gives today as the time, and เพราะต้องทำงาน supplies the reason. จอดรถตรงนี้ไม่ได้ครับ is read here as a polite parking prohibition. ครับ does not identify the listener as a man or name a rank.

Do Not Invent The Cause
ฉันกินเผ็ดไม่ได้ and เปิดประตูไม่ได้ state inability but do not identify a diagnosis, a locked door or any other exact cause. Read any fuller context before choosing a cause.

Keep The Ability Overlap
This pattern expresses general inability and can overlap with a lack of skill. To specifically say you do not know how to do something (like play piano), use เป็น with ไม่. To emphasize that you are physically exhausted and cannot continue, use ไหว with ไม่.

Compare Meanings
The first exercise asks for inability to go today, not a denial of going. The second tests an incorrect interpretation of ว่ายน้ำไม่ได้, rather than marking that grammatical Thai phrase wrong. No frequency estimate, absolute tense rule, or complete classification of every use is established by these examples.

Examples (4)

  1. วันนี้ไปไม่ได้ เพราะต้องทำงาน

    I can't go today because I have to work.

    Word by Word: today | go | cannot | because | must | work

    เพราะต้องทำงาน supplies the reason for inability to go. The Thai omits the subject; I is the reading used in this example.

  2. จอดรถตรงนี้ไม่ได้ครับ

    You cannot park here.

    Word by Word: park a car | here | not allowed | polite ending

    This is read as a parking prohibition. ครับ makes the utterance polite; it does not add sir, a male listener or a rank.

  3. ฉันกินเผ็ดไม่ได้

    I can't eat spicy food.

    Word by Word: I | eat spicy food | cannot

    ฉัน names the speaker. The sentence states inability to eat spicy food without specifying its cause.

  4. เปิดประตูไม่ได้

    I can't open the door.

    Word by Word: open the door | cannot

    The subject is omitted in Thai; I supplies one reading. No locked or stuck state is explicitly stated.

Common Mistakes

  • Choosing Event Denial For The Requested Inability Meaning

    ฉันไม่ได้ไปวันนี้
    ฉันไปไม่ได้วันนี้

    For the requested meaning I cannot go today, choose ฉันไปไม่ได้วันนี้. ฉันไม่ได้ไปวันนี้ denies going today and does not supply that same inability meaning. This is a meaning comparison; it does not make the second Thai sentence universally ungrammatical or establish that every pre-verbal ไม่ได้ is past tense.

  • Assuming 'ไม่ได้' always means a temporary obstacle or proves that the speaker has learned the skill.

    Incorrect interpretation: "ว่ายน้ำไม่ได้" must mean "I learned to swim, but a temporary obstacle stops me."
    ว่ายน้ำไม่เป็น

    'ไม่ได้' states general inability and does not by itself identify its cause. To specifically say you do not know how to swim because you never learned, use ไม่เป็น. 'ว่ายน้ำไม่ได้' is also grammatical; context may indicate missing skill or a temporary obstacle.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Verb + ไม่ได้Level 3Cannot Do It

Learn This First

To understand 'Verb + ไม่ได้', you first need to know how to express ability using 'ได้' after a verb. You also need to be familiar with the basic negation marker 'ไม่' and how Thai sentences are structured so you can correctly place the negation after the action.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

ไม่ได้ได้