Express “not really” in Thai with “mâi kôi”

ไม่ค่อย (mâi kôi) can be translated to “not really”, “not very” in English.

If you want to say “I don’t really like” something, you can say ไม่ค่อยชอบ (mâi kôi chôp).

Contents
  1. ไม่ค่อย (mâi kôi) with verb
    1. Structure
    2. Examples
  2. ไม่ค่อย (mâi kôi) with adjectives
    1. Structure
    2. Examples
  3. ไม่ค่อย (mâi kôi) with adverbs
    1. Structure
    2. Examples
    3. Common mistake
      1. Examples

ไม่ค่อย (mâi kôi) with verb

Structure

⭐️ ไม่ค่อย (mâi kôi) + verb

Examples

  • แม่ไม่ค่อยมีเงิน mâe mâi kôi mee ngern ➜ My mom doesn't really have money.
  • พ่อไม่ค่อยมีเวลา pôr mâi kôi mee way-laa ➜ My dad doesn't really have time.
  • พวกเขาไม่ค่อยออกกำลังกาย pûuak kăo mâi kôi òk gam-lang gaai ➜ They don't really exercise.
  • เราไม่ค่อยดูหนัง rao mâi kôi doo năng ➜ We don't really watch movies.
  • ฉันไม่ค่อยทำการบ้าน chăn mâi kôi tam gaan bâan ➜ I don't really do homework.
  • ผมไม่ค่อยเข้าใจ pŏm mâi kôi kâo jai ➜ I don't really understand.
  • ฉันไม่ค่อยอยากไป chăn mâi kôi yàak bpai ➜ I don't really want to go.
  • เขาไม่ค่อยชอบที่นี่ kăo mâi kôi chôp têe nêe ➜ He doesn't really like it here.
  • ฝนไม่ค่อยตก fŏn mâi kôi dtòk ➜ It doesn't really rain. / It doesn't rain often.
  • พ่อไม่ค่อยพูด pôr mâi kôi pôot ➜ My dad doesn't really talk. / My dad doesn't talk a lot.

ไม่ค่อย (mâi kôi) with adjectives

Structure

ไม่ค่อย (mâi kôi) + adjective

Examples

  • ทะเลที่นี่ไม่ค่อยสวย tá-lay têe nêe mâi kôi sŭuay ➜ The beach here isn't really beautiful.
  • งานนี้ไม่ค่อยสนุก ngaan née mâi kôi sà-nùk ➜ This job isn't very fun.
  • บ้านไม่ค่อยใหญ่ bâan mâi kôi yài ➜ The house isn't really big.
  • แดดไม่ค่อยร้อน dàet mâi kôi rón ➜ The sunlight isn't very hot.
  • ร่างกายไม่ค่อยแข็งแรง râang gaai mâi kôi kăeng raeng ➜ The body isn't really strong.
  • น้ำไม่ค่อยเย็น náam mâi kôi yen ➜ The water isn't very cold.
  • อาหารไม่ค่อยสะอาด aa-hăan mâi kôi sà-àat ➜ The food isn't very clean.

ไม่ค่อย (mâi kôi) with adverbs

When you use ไม่ค่อย (mâi kôi) with adverbs you need to put the verb before the word ไม่ค่อย (mâi kôi).

For example, “I don’t really run fast” in Thai would be “I run not really fast”.

See the examples below.

Structure

⭐️ verb + ไม่ค่อย (mâi kôi) + adverb

Examples

  • ครูสอนไม่ค่อยดี kroo sŏn mâi kôi dee ➜ The teacher doesn't really teach well.
  • วิ่งไม่ค่อยเร็ว wîng mâi kôi reo ➜ I don't run very fast.
  • เข้าใจไม่ค่อยลึก kâo jai mâi kôi léuk ➜ I don't really understand deeply.
  • เขาพูดไม่ค่อยชัด kăo pôot mâi kôi chát ➜ He doesn't really speak clearly.
  • เขาทำตัวไม่ค่อยดี kăo tam dtuua mâi kôi dee ➜ He doesn't really behave well.

Common mistake

The common mistakes when using adverbs is to mess up the order and say ไม่ค่อย (mâi kôi) + verb + adverb instead of verb + ไม่ค่อย (mâi kôi) + adverb

Examples

  • Wrong ❌ ครูไม่ค่อยสอนดี kroo mâi kôi sŏn dee 👉 ("mâi kôi" has to come after the verb and before the adverb) ➜ The teacher doesn't really teach well.
  • Correct ✅ ครูสอนไม่ค่อยดี kroo sŏn mâi kôi dee ➜ The teacher doesn't really teach well. 👉 literally: the teacher teaches not really well
  • Wrong ❌ เขาไม่ค่อยวิ่งเร็ว kăo mâi kôi wîng reo 👉 ("mâi kôi" has to come after the verb and before the adverb) ➜ He doesn't really run fast.
  • Correct ✅ เขาวิ่งไม่ค่อยเร็ว kăo wîng mâi kôi reo ➜ He doesn't really run fast. 👉literally: he runs not really fast