Breakdown of เขา โทร ถาม ได้ ไหม ครับ
ครับ
polite particle (male)
เขา
he, she, they
ไหม
question particle
ได้
can
ถาม
to ask
โทร
to call
Questions & Answers about เขา โทร ถาม ได้ ไหม ครับ
Why is ได้ (can) placed after the verbs instead of before them like in English?
In Thai, the word for "can" (ได้) always comes after the verb and the object (if there is one). Since there is no object here, it goes directly after the action โทร ถาม (call and ask) to show that the action is possible or permitted.
There are two verbs next to each other (โทร ถาม). Do I need a word like "and" between them?
No, you don't! In Thai, you can string verbs together to show a sequence of actions. โทร ถาม literally means "call ask", but it naturally translates to "call and ask" or "call to ask" in English. You do not need a connecting word.
How do ได้ and ไหม work together at the end of the sentence?
ได้ means "can" and ไหม is a yes/no question word. When you put them together as ได้ ไหม, it turns the statement "can do it" into the question "can [someone] do it?". It is the standard way to ask for permission or check if an action is possible.
Could เขา in this sentence mean "him" as the person being called?
Generally, no. Thai uses a Subject-Verb-Object word order. Because เขา (he/she/they) is at the very beginning of this sentence, it acts as the subject doing the action (he is the one calling). If you wanted to ask "Can I call him?", เขา would go after the verbs: ผม โทร ถาม เขา ได้ ไหม ครับ.
Does โทร mean calling out to someone with your voice, or calling on a phone?
โทร specifically means to call on the telephone. It is a shortened version of the full word for telephone (โทรศัพท์). If you want to say "call out" to someone using your voice, you would use a completely different word (เรียก).
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