ขอ organizes a request around what the speaker seeks. That may be a thing (ขอน้ำ “may I have water”), permission for the speaker to act (ขอพัก “may I take a break”), or a situation involving someone else (ขอให้คุณรอ “I ask you to wait”). This is speaker-oriented modality: ขอ publicly presents a desired outcome and invites the addressee or relevant authority to accommodate it.
English can translate these frames with can I, could you, may I have, let me, or I would like. Thai does not derive them from one polite auxiliary. Participant order, ให้, ได้ไหม, particles, and context identify what is being requested and who is expected to act.
Three central frames
| Frame | Requested outcome | Productive substitution |
|---|---|---|
| ขอ + noun phrase | speaker seeks a thing, service, or amount | ขอสำเนาหนึ่งชุด |
| ขอ + event | speaker normally seeks to perform the event | ขอพักสักครู่ |
| ขอ + event + ได้ไหม | asks whether the speaker's event is permitted | ขอเลื่อนนัดได้ไหม |
| ขอให้ + person + event | speaker seeks an event by another participant | ขอให้คุณยืนยันข้อมูล |
| ขออนุญาต + event | explicitly seeks authorization | ขออนุญาตบันทึกเสียง |
| ขอ + speech-act verb | claims a turn or frames the speaker's contribution | ขอถาม / ขอแจ้ง / ขออธิบาย |
ขอสำเนาสัญญาหนึ่งชุดครับ
kho samnao sanya nueng chut khrap
May I have one copy of the contract? (ordinary polite request, male speaker)
ขอพักสักสิบนาทีได้ไหมคะ
kho phak sak sip nathi dai mai kha
May I take a break for about ten minutes? (polite permission request, female speaker)
ขอให้คุณตรวจชื่อผู้รับอีกครั้งค่ะ
kho hai khun truat chue phu rap ik khrang kha
Please check the recipient's name once more. (polite workplace request, female speaker; listener as actor)
In ขอพัก, the omitted subject of พัก is normally the requester. In ขอให้คุณตรวจ, คุณ is the subject of ตรวจ. The following predicate never changes form, and ให้ is not an English infinitive marker: it introduces the desired proposition and its actor.
ขอ + noun: requesting a thing or service
With a noun phrase, ขอ directly names what the speaker seeks. The noun phrase still follows Thai classifier and modifier order. In a café, office, pharmacy, or hotel, ขอ + item + ครับ/ค่ะ is a normal complete request, not a clipped sentence missing an English verb.
ขอใบเสร็จแยกเป็นสองใบนะคะ
kho bai set yaek pen song bai na kha
Could I have the receipt split into two receipts? (ordinary polite service request, female customer)
ผมขอข้อมูลราคาสำหรับห้องสามคนครับ
phom kho khomun rakha samrap hong sam khon khrap
I'd like pricing information for a three-person room. (ordinary polite service request, male speaker)
ขอเวลาเช็กยอดอีกสักครู่ค่ะ
kho wela chek yot ik sak khru kha
Please give me another moment to check the total. (ordinary polite workplace request, female speaker)
Adding หน่อย can frame the imposition as limited; ด้วย can add “also/as well”; ได้ไหม explicitly asks whether the outcome is available. None is a universal translation of please. The broader comparison with ช่วย and รบกวน is on request frames.
ขอ + event: the requester as understood actor
Simple ขอ + event often seeks permission, access to a turn, or accommodation for an action by the speaker. This shared-subject relation is supplied by discourse rather than an overt pronoun before every verb.
วันนี้ผมขอออกก่อนเวลาครึ่งชั่วโมงครับ
wan ni phom kho ok kon wela khrueng chua mong khrap
Today I'd like to leave half an hour early, if that's all right. (polite workplace request, male speaker)
ขอลองเปิดไฟล์จากเครื่องนี้หน่อยค่ะ
kho long poet fai chak khrueang ni noi kha
Let me try opening the file from this computer. (ordinary polite request, female speaker)
ผมขอถามเรื่องกำหนดส่งอีกข้อครับ
phom kho tham rueang kamnot song ik kho khrap
I'd like to ask one more question about the deadline. (polite meeting speech, male speaker)
ขอถาม, ขอชี้แจง, and ขอแจ้ง are common turn-management frames in careful speech. ขอแจ้งว่า... is especially common in (formal/business) announcements; it conventionally frames the speaker's act and need not describe literal uncertainty over permission.
ขอแจ้งว่าระบบจะปิดปรับปรุงคืนนี้ค่ะ
kho chaeng wa rabop cha pit prapprung khuen ni kha
Please be advised that the system will be closed for maintenance tonight. (formal service announcement, female voice)
The explicit ขออนุญาต + event is more formal and makes authorization central:
ผมขออนุญาตบันทึกเสียงการประชุมครับ
phom kho anuyat banthuek siang kan prachum khrap
I would like permission to record the meeting. (formal-polite request, male speaker)
ขอให้: another participant carries out the desired event
ขอให้ + person + event packages the desired proposition after ให้. It ranges from an ordinary request to a formal directive or a wish, depending on the event and relationship.
ขอให้ผู้โดยสารเตรียมบัตรก่อนขึ้นรถค่ะ
kho hai phu doisan triam bat kon khuen rot kha
Passengers are requested to have their cards ready before boarding. (formal public announcement, female voice)
ขอให้เที่ยวให้สนุกและเดินทางปลอดภัยนะครับ
kho hai thiao hai sanuk lae doen thang plotphai na khrap
Have a wonderful trip and travel safely. (ordinary polite well-wish, male speaker; addressee omitted)
The second example is not an order to “travel safely” under the speaker's control; it is a wish. Inside it, the second ให้ in เที่ยวให้สนุก introduces the intended result “travel so as to have fun”; it is distinct from the first ให้ after ขอ. The construction's force comes from what kind of outcome is named and from the social setting. A manager's ขอให้ส่งภายในวันนี้ may function as a firm workplace request, while ขอให้หายเร็ว ๆ is a wish for recovery.
Negation: what does the speaker reject?
With ขอไม่ + event, the speaker asks or chooses not to perform that event. In ไม่ได้ขอให้ + person + event, the speaker denies having made the request. These scopes must remain distinct.
ครั้งนี้ฉันขอไม่เข้าร่วมประชุมค่ะ
khrang ni chan kho mai khao ruam prachum kha
This time, I'd like not to attend the meeting. (polite but explicit refusal, female speaker)
ผมไม่ได้ขอให้เขายกเลิกงานครับ
phom mai dai kho hai khao yokloek ngan khrap
I did not ask him to cancel the event. (ordinary polite correction, male speaker)
ฉันขอให้ทีมไม่ส่งข้อมูลนี้ต่อค่ะ
chan kho hai thim mai song khomun ni to kha
I ask the team not to forward this information. (careful polite workplace request, female speaker)
The first asks for a negative event by the requester. The second negates the past act of requesting. The third places ไม่ inside the desired proposition. Thai does not move an auxiliary as English does; the location of ไม่ reveals its scope.
จะ, กำลัง, แล้ว, and prior requests
ขอ itself can be treated as a lexical requesting event. Time and aspect then locate that act. จะขอ presents an intended request; กำลังขอ presents a request or application in progress; ขอ...ไว้แล้ว presents a prior request whose result remains relevant.
พรุ่งนี้ผมจะขอคุยกับผู้จัดการโดยตรงครับ
phrung ni phom cha kho khui kap phu chatkan doi trong khrap
Tomorrow I will ask to speak with the manager directly. (ordinary polite plan, male speaker)
ฝ่ายจัดซื้อกำลังขอใบเสนอราคาเพิ่มอยู่ค่ะ
fai chat sue kamlang kho bai sanoe rakha phoem yu kha
The purchasing department is requesting additional quotations. (formal-polite progress report, female voice)
ผมขอสำเนาเอกสารไว้แล้วครับ
phom kho samnao ekkasan wai laeo khrap
I have already requested a copy of the document. (ordinary polite report, male speaker)
These do not conjugate ขอ. กำลัง...อยู่ frames the act as ongoing; ไว้แล้ว presents the request as already lodged for later use. In a live request such as ขอพัก, aspect is normally absent because the utterance itself performs the request.
Ordinary-polite dialogue
ขอเปลี่ยนเวลานัดเป็นช่วงบ่ายได้ไหมคะ
kho plian wela nat pen chuang bai dai mai kha
May I move the appointment to the afternoon? (polite request, female speaker)
ได้ครับ สะดวกช่วงบ่ายสองหรือบ่ายสามครับ
dai khrap saduak chuang bai song rue bai sam khrap
Certainly. Would two or three in the afternoon be more convenient? (ordinary polite reply, male staff member)
ขอเป็นบ่ายสามค่ะ แล้วขอให้ส่งข้อความยืนยันด้วยนะคะ
kho pen bai sam kha laeo kho hai song khokhwam yuenyan duai na kha
Three p.m., please, and could you send a confirmation message too? (ordinary polite reply, female customer)
ได้ครับ ผมจะส่งให้ทันที
dai khrap phom cha song hai thanthi
Of course. I'll send it immediately. (ordinary polite reply, male staff member)
Common Mistakes
1. Using ขอ when the listener should perform the event
❌ ขอเปิดม่านหน่อยครับ
Wrong for the intended request that the listener open the curtain; this normally asks to let the speaker open it.
✅ ช่วยเปิดม่านด้านนี้ให้หน่อยครับ
chuai poet man dan ni hai noi khrap
Could you open this curtain for me? (ordinary polite request, male speaker)
2. Omitting ให้ before a different event subject
❌ ฉันขอคุณส่งไฟล์ใหม่ค่ะ
Incorrect neutral order for ‘I ask you to send’; คุณ needs the ขอให้ proposition frame.
✅ ฉันขอให้คุณส่งไฟล์ฉบับแก้ไขค่ะ
chan kho hai khun song fai chabap kaekhai kha
I ask you to send the revised file. (polite workplace request, female speaker)
3. Inserting an English infinitive equivalent
❌ ผมขอที่จะเลื่อนวันส่งครับ
Wrong for an ordinary request; ที่จะ is not a required equivalent of English ‘to’ after ขอ.
✅ ผมขอเลื่อนวันส่งเป็นวันจันทร์ครับ
phom kho luean wan song pen wan chan khrap
I'd like to move the submission date to Monday. (ordinary polite workplace request, male speaker)
4. Putting event negation after its object
❌ ขอรับถุงไม่ค่ะ
Incorrect—ไม่ precedes the event รับถุง that the requester chooses not to perform.
✅ ขอไม่รับถุงค่ะ มีกระเป๋ามาแล้ว
kho mai rap thung kha mi krapao ma laeo
No bag for me, thanks; I brought one already. (ordinary polite service refusal, female customer)
Key Takeaways
- ขอ + noun seeks a thing; ขอ + event normally seeks permission or accommodation for the requester to act.
- ขอให้ + person + event places another participant inside the desired proposition and can express a request, directive, or wish.
- The position of ไม่ distinguishes requesting nonperformance, denying that a request occurred, and requesting that another person not act.
- ขอ never conjugates. จะ, กำลัง...อยู่, ไว้แล้ว, time expressions, and context locate the request and its commitment.
Now practice Thai
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Thai →Related Topics
- Request Frames with ขอ, ช่วย, and รบกวนB1 — Choose ขอ for what the requester seeks, ช่วย for the listener's cooperation, and รบกวน to acknowledge an imposition.
- Making Requests without English Imperative ForceA2 — Shape Thai requests through participant roles, limited imposition, questions, reasons, and final particles instead of translating English imperatives word for word.
- Permission with ได้B1 — Use postverbal ได้ for context-based permission, distinguish it from ability and success, and make the permission source explicit when needed.
- ขอให้ for Wishes and Desired OutcomesB2 — Use ขอให้ to present a following clause as a requested, hoped-for, or conventionally wished-for outcome.
- Bare-Verb ImperativesB1 — Give direct instructions, soften everyday requests, and choose Thai imperative particles with accurate social and register nuance.
- คะ in Female Questions and Calls for AttentionA1 — Use คะ for a female speaker's polite questions, attentive calls, repair responses, and listener-oriented stacks such as นะคะ.