พอ

Enough with พอ

Level 2

เงินไม่พอ compares money with the cost of buying this car; สูงพอที่จะ gives a height-and-purpose assessment. พอกินได้ describes passable food in its full taste context.

How It Works

1. Money And Purpose
เงินไม่พอซื้อรถคันนี้ says the money is insufficient to buy this car. The displayed ไม่ precedes พอ. NIU separately gives a saved-money example with พอจะไปต่างประเทศได้แล้ว. These are contextual purpose comparisons, not claims that every noun or adjective must follow one order.

2. Height And Food
สูงพอที่จะเป็นนักบาสเกตบอล presents the speaker’s height assessment for being a basketball player; it does not guarantee selection, skill, or a future career. อาหารรสชาติพอกินได้ selects a passable-taste reading: the natural translation does not certify food safety. NIU’s complete selected พอใช้ได้ entry gives satisfactory ability, work, and success examples; it does not make every preceding พอ expression mean the same thing.

3. This Much
แค่นี้ก็พอแล้ว identifies this contextual amount as enough already. A speaker may use it to stop an activity in context, but the sentence alone does not identify the activity, prove satisfaction, or guarantee one emotional effect. The written word พอ has an unmarked low-class live syllable with a mid tone; the contrasting spelling พ่อ has mai ek and a falling tone under the marked rule. This is a written-form comparison, not an audio assessment.

4. Other Uses Need Context
Compare the linked พอ...ก็ time construction with these sufficiency examples. A clause beginning with พอ is not automatically temporal. NIU lists enough and just-when readings in its full selected พอ entry, and lists เพียงพอ with an adequate-income example; these witnesses do not establish a casual-speech ban on เพียงพอ.

5. Two Requested Forms
The first requests เขาสวยพอ with สวย before พอ for the intended enough reading. The original เขาพอสวย can instead have a passably-pretty reading; it is not universally invalid. The second requests มีเงินพอไหม with พอ. มีเงินเพียงพอไหม can also meaningfully ask about sufficient money; the task teaches a selected form without ranking friendship, news, or textbook speech.

Examples (4)

  1. เงินไม่พอซื้อรถคันนี้

    There is not enough money to buy this car.

    Word by Word: money | not enough | buy | car | classifier | this

    เงินไม่พอ gives insufficient money for the displayed car purchase; no specific owner or actual price is stated.

  2. เขาสูงพอที่จะเป็นนักบาสเกตบอล

    He is tall enough to be a basketball player.

    Word by Word: he | tall | enough to | be | basketball player

    สูงพอที่จะ is the displayed height-and-purpose wording. จะ inside ที่จะ is rendered functionally as to, without a guaranteed future career.

  3. อาหารรสชาติพอกินได้

    The food tastes passable, good enough to eat.

    Word by Word: food | taste | passable to eat

    พอกินได้ is read through the complete taste description. This example assessment does not certify that any actual food is safe to eat.

  4. แค่นี้ก็พอแล้ว

    This much is enough already.

    Word by Word: just this much | then | enough | already

    The contextual amount นี้ is judged sufficient. A stop request or satisfaction interpretation depends on the wider situation, without a frequency claim.

Common Mistakes

  • Not using the requested สวยพอ order for enough beauty.

    เขาพอสวย
    เขาสวยพอ

    Copy เขาสวยพอ for the intended enough reading. เขาพอสวย can mean passably pretty; the task preserves that contextual alternative rather than banning every preceding พอ.

  • Not using พอ in the money question requested here.

    มีเงินเพียงพอไหม
    มีเงินพอไหม

    Copy มีเงินพอไหม. The original มีเงินเพียงพอไหม can also ask a meaningful sufficiency question; no universal casual-register ban follows from the selected task.

How It Connects

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

พอLevel 2Enough with พอ

Learn This First

To understand 'พอ' (enough), you need to know how Thai handles adjectives as verbs and how to negate them using 'ไม่'. Basic word order is also essential to understand where the subject sits in relation to the state of being 'enough'.

Words in This Pattern

พอพอพอ