Khmer phrasebook
Pronunciation guide
Knowing a few Khmer words will help you earn some respect while in Cambodia.
- If you are male the word for 'yes' is pronounced 'baht' (បាទ) as in the sound of a sheep followed by a hard T.
- If you are female the word for 'yes' is pronounced 'jah' (ចា) as in the first part of 'jar'.
- The word for 'no' is pronounced 'otDay' (អត់ទេ/ទេ) with a short 'ot with an emphasis on the D following.
- The word for 'thank you' is pronounced 'awkunh' (អរគុណ) sounds a little like raccoon.
- To express greater thanks (thank you very much), use the word 'awkunh ch'ran' (អរគុណច្រើន).
- The word for 'hello' is pronounced 'sue-saw-day' (សួស្តី) with sue as in a woman's name, saw as in a thing you cut with, and day as in sunday.
- The word for 'sorry' is pronounced 'somtoh' (សុំទោស).
- The word for 'toilet' is pronounced 'dakuhn' (បង្គន់) or 'pahkuhn' (បន្ទប់ទឹក). Similarly to how you would pronounce the kunh in thank you, but with a short 'ba' in front.
- Scooter/mopeds with carriages pulled behind are called a 'tuk-tuk' (តុកតុក) better pronounced with the U sound from the back of your throat, like tulk-tulk.
- Scooter/mopeds by themselves are pronounced 'moto' (ម៉ូតូ) with an emphasis on 'mo'.
- Rickshaws are called 'cyclo' (ស៊ីក្លូ). The cy is pronounced like the word see.
Vowels
Consonants
Common diphthongs
Phrase list
Basics
Common signs
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- Hello. ("formal")
- ជំរាបសួរ (chum reap suor)
- Hello. (informal)
- សួស្តី (sous-dey)
- Hello. (answering the phone)
- អាឡូ (allo)
- How are you?
- (niak sok sabai teh?)
- Fine, thank you.
- សុខសប្បាយ (akun, sok sabai)
- What is your name?
- (niak chmuah ey?)
- My name is ______ .
- ខ្ញុំឈ្មោះ (knyom chmuah _____ .)
- Nice to meet you.
- (reak reay dae bahn skoal loak )
- Please.
- សូម (soum)
- Thank you.
- អរគុណ (aw khun)
- Welcome
- (soum swa-khom)
- You're welcome.
- (m'n ay te) or អញ្ជើញ (un-juhn)
- Yes.
- ច៎ា (jaah female) បាទ (baht men)
- No.
- (ot teh)
- Excuse me.
- សូមទោស (soum toh)
- I'm sorry.
- សូមទោស (soum toh)
- Goodbye
- (chum reap leah)
- Goodbye (informal)
- (leah seun hai)
- I can't speak name of language.
- (k'nyom ot seu cheh niyeay pia'saa khmae teh)
- Do you speak English?
- (cheh niyeay pia'saa Anglais baan teh?)
- Is there someone here who speaks English?
- (miean niak na cheh Anglais teh?)
- Help!
- (chuy!)
- Look out!
- (mer seun!)
- Good morning.
- អរុណសួស្ដី (arun sous-dey )
- Good afternoon.
- (tiveah sous-dey )
- Good night.
- រាត្រីសួស្ដី (reatrey sous-dey )
- I don't understand.
- ខ្ញុំមិនយល់ទេ ( k'nyom min yul teh)
- Where is the toilet?
- (bakun noew ey nah?)
- Happy Birthday!
- (reak reay t'gnai khom-not)
Problems
Numbers
Although Khmer uses base-10 numbers, the numbers for 1-9 are effectively spoken as base-5. Thus, six (bpram mouy) literally means five (bpram), one (mouy); whereas sixteen (dop bpram mouy) is ten (dop), five (bprum), one (mouy).
In practice, the word 'sep' is often omitted from the numbers for 30-90. However, it is generally considered more proper to include the word.
- 0
- ๐ (soun)
- 1
- ๑ (muay)
- 2
- ๒ (pee)
- 3
- ๓ (bei)
- 4
- ๔ (buan)
- 5
- ๕ (pbram)
- 6
- ๖ (pbram muay)
- 7
- ๗ (pbram pee)
- 8
- ๘ (pbram bei)
- 9
- ๙ (pbram buan)
- 10
- ๑๐ (dop)
- 20
- (ma'pei)
- 30
- (sam sep)
- 40
- (sae sep)
- 50
- (haa sep)
- 60
- (hok sep)
- 70
- (chet sep)
- 80
- (paet sep)
- 90
- (kao sep)
- 100
- (muay roy)
- 1,000
- (muay poan)
- 10,000
- (muay meun)
- 100,000
- (muay saen)
Time
- Time
- ម៉ោង (Maong)
Clock time
- What time is it?
- (Maong bon maan?)
- Maong mouy t'ngai (day)
- (1 pm)
- Maong mouy yop (night)
- (1 am)
Duration
- Hour
- ម៉ោង (Maong)
- Minute
- នាទី (Neatii)
Days
- Day
- (T'ngai) (ថ្ងៃ)
- One day
- (Mouy t'ngai) (១ ថ្ងៃ)
- Monday
- (Chhan) (ច័ន្ទ)
- Tuesday
- (Angkea) (អង្គារ)
- Wednesday
- (Poat) (ពុធ)
- Thursday
- (Pra-hoah) (ព្រហស្បត្តិ៍)
- Friday
- (Sok) (សុក្រ)
- Saturday
- (Sao) (សៅរ៍)
- Sunday
- (A-tut) (អាទិត្យ)
Months
- Year
- (Chnam)
- Month
- (Khae)
- January
- (Makara)
- February
- (Kompheak)
- March
- (Mea-neah)
- April
- (Mae-sa)
- May
- (Osaphea)
- June
- (Maytona)
- July
- (Kakada)
- August
- (Seyha)
- September
- (Kanya)
- October
- (Tola)
- November
- (Vicheka)
- December
- (Ta Nou)
Colors
- Color
- (Phoa)
- Red
- (Phoa Krahom)
- Blue
- (Phoa Khiev)
- Yellow
- (Phoa Leung)
- White
- (Phoa Saw)
- Black
- (Phoa Khmao)
- Green
- (Phoa Bai-Thong)
- Orange
- (Phoa Teuk-Kroit)
- Pink
- (Phoa Pkah-Chouk)
- Purple
- (Phoa Swai)
- Brown
- (Phoa Thnout)
- Silver
- (Phoa P'rak)
- Gold
- (Phoa Meas)
Transportation
- Ride
- (Che-eh)
Bus and train
- Train
- រទេះភ្លើង (ro-teh-plung)
Directions
- Stop
- (Choup)
- Turn
- (Baat)
- Right
- (Sa-daam)
- Left
- (Ch-wang)
- Straight
- (Thrang)
- Backward
- (K'raoy)
Taxi
Accommodation
- house
- (p'theh)
- my house
- (p'theh k'niom)
- go to my house
- (dtow p'theh k'niom)
Money
- Money
- លុយ (Loiiy)
Eating
- Eat
- ញ៉ាំ (Niam bay)
- Food
- ម្ហូប (Mahop)
- Rice
- បាយ (Bai)
Bars
Shopping
ne ke ghtu
Driving
- to drive
- (baek)
- car
- ឡាន (laan)
Authority
Learning more
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