Expressing “To be located” in Thai with “yòo (têe)”

When you want to talk about where something is located at, in Thai, we also use อยู่ (yòo). อยู่ (yòo) means “to be located”.

For example, “where is the bathroom?”. In Thai, you need to say “bathroom located where?”.

When the preposition is ที่ (têe), you can omit it the ที่ (têe). You can also put other prepositions of places such as “on” บน (bon), “in” ใน (nai), “outside” นอก (nôk) and etc. to specify where something is located at.

Aside from this, อยู่ (yòo) also means “to stay/live”.

Contents
  1. Structure
  2. Examples
  3. Common mistake
  4. Further resources

Structure

⭐️ noun + อยู่ (yòo) + preposition + location

Examples

  • ห้องน้ำอยู่ที่ไหน hông náam yòo têe năi 👉 The "têe" is optional ➜ Where is the bathroom? 👉 literally: bathroom located where
  • กระเป๋าตังอยู่ที่นี่ grà-bpăo dtang yòo têe nêe 👉 The "têe" is optional ➜ The wallet is here. 👉 literally: wallet located here
  • คุณอยู่ที่ไหน kun yòo têe năi ➜ Where are you?/ Where do you stay?
  • เงินใครอยู่บนพื้น ngern krai yòo bon péun ➜ Whose money is on the ground?
  • แม่อยู่ไหน mâe yòo năi ➜ Where is mom?/ Where does mom live?
  • พ่ออยู่นี่ pôr yòo nêe ➜ My dad is here / My dad lives here
  • หมาอยู่ในบ้านหรือนอกบ้าน măa yòo nai bâan rĕu nôk bâan ➜ Is the dog in the house or outside the house?

Common mistake

In English you can ask “where is the dog?” or “where is the dog located?” and they mean the same thing. However in Thai you must always use the word อยู่ (yòo) meaning “to be located” when you want to know where something is located.

So the common mistake is omitting the word for ‘to be located’ อยู่ (yòo) and just asking ‘where’.

  • Wrong ❌ ห้องน้ำที่ไหน hông náam têe năi 👉 you need 'yòo têe năi' to ask where something is located at. ➜ Where is the bathroom?
  • Correct ✅ ห้องน้ำอยู่ที่ไหน hông náam yòo têe năi 👉 (adding the 'yòo' makes it correct") ➜ Where is the bathroom?
  • Wrong ❌ หมาที่ไหน măa têe năi 👉 you need 'yòo têe năi' to ask where something is located at. ➜ Where is the dog?
  • Correct ✅ หมาอยู่ที่ไหน măa yòo têe năi 👉 (adding the 'yòo' makes it correct") ➜ Where is the dog?

Further resources