Do you love someone? How do you tell them that you love them? Love is one of the most powerful feelings in the world. Everybody wants the feeling of being loved. There are different words to express your love to others.
That’s why in this blog, we will learn how to say “I love you” in the Khmer language. We will also learn some Khmer love phrases that you can say to someone you love. Discover how you’ll even love to learn Khmer with these amazing I love you phrases!
How To Say “I Love You” In The Khmer Language?
Khmer, a Mon-Khmer language, is the official language of Cambodia. It is spoken as a first language by over 13 million Cambodians and a total of 20 million people around the world. So, if you are planning to go to Cambodia, you need to learn some phrases that will be very welcoming to locals.
Cambodians are very social, helpful, and humble. With their genuine smiles, you can’t resist smiling back. No wonder many people are falling in love not just with the country and their culture but also with the people living there. So if you happen to a Cambodian that made your heart race, here are few words that might help you express your love in Khmer.
1. Sralanh (ស្រឡាញ់)
Before you learn the basic phrase, you must learn how to say the word “love”. Srolang or Srolanh (ស្រឡាញ់) literally means “love” in English. Now let’s check out how to say I love you in Khmer.
2. Khnhom Sralanh Neak (ខ្ញុំស្រលាញ់អ្នក)
This is the basic way to say “I love you” in Khmer. Some native speakers use Knhom srolanh nak as its phonetic equivalent. Knhom is the word used for “I”, srolang or srolanh means “love” and nak means “you”. This is used to say “I love you” if you want it to be gender-neutral.
3. Oun Sralanh Bong (អូនស្រលាញ់បង)
Knhom Srolanh Bong (អូនស្រលាញ់បង) is the way of saying “I love you” when you’re speaking or addressing a male lover. One way to learn more vocabulary about Khmer is downloading the Ling app. It includes fun quizzes and games that will help you memorize Khmer easily. Download it on the Play Store or App Store and try it yourself!
4. Bong Sralanh Oun (បងស្រលាញ់អូន)
This is similar to the previous one the only difference is the last syllable. This is the way of saying “I love you” when you’re speaking addressing a female lover.
To summarize, saying “I love you” in Khmer may differ whether you want to address it to a male, female or you just want it to be gender-neutral. Now that you learned Khmer love phrases and how it is written, you can now practice the right pronunciation. It is important to know how these words are pronounced especially if you are a foreigner in their land.
How Do You Say “I Love You Too” In Khmer?
What are you going to do if someone said it to you? How will you respond if you have mutual feelings with that person? To say “I love you too” in Khmer, say “Khnhom-Kor-Sralanh-Neak-Dae” (ខ្ញុំក៏ស្រលាញ់អ្នកដែរ). Of course, you don’t need to say it if you don’t feel like saying it. You will be needing more comprehensive words than the words and phrases in this blog.
Khmer Love Phrases For Dating
Aside from saying “I love you” you can also express different Khmer love phrases. You will not meet someone and easily say “I love you” without knowing them and spend time together. Every love story may start with a single hello. Love may start in small talks. If you happen to meet a Cambodian and you are a bit shy, here are some phrases that might help you:
| English | Khmer | Transcription |
|---|---|---|
| What is your number? | តើលេខអ្នកប៉ុន្មានដែរ? | Taeu-Lek-Neak-Ponman-Dae? |
| I am single | ខ្ញុំនៅលីវ | Khnhom-Nov-Liv |
| I have a boyfriend/girlfriend | ខ្ញុំមានមិត្តប្រុស/មិត្តស្រីហើយ | Khnhom-Mean-Mit-Pros/Mit-Srei-Haeuy |
| I miss you | ខ្ញុំនឹកអ្នក | Khnhom-Nuek-Neak |
| You are beautiful | អូនពិតជាស្រស់ស្អាត | Oun-Pit-Chea-Sras-S’at |
| We were meant to love each other | យើងមាននិស្ស័យជាគូនឹងគ្នា | Yeung-Mean-Nisay-Chea-Kou-Neung-Knea |
Khmer Terms Of Endearment
Just like in other countries, Cambodians do not address their loved ones as girlfriends/boyfriends. They often use endearment for their boyfriends/girlfriends like the following:
| English | Khmer | Transcription |
|---|---|---|
| Sweetheart | សង្សារ | Sangsar |
| Dear | សូមគោរព | Soum-Kourop |
| My love | សំណព្វចិត្ត | Samnap-Chet |
| Darling | ស្រឡាញ់ | Sralanh |
| Sweetie | សម្លាញ់ | Samlanh |
| My husband | ប្តីខ្ញុំ | Bdei-Khnhom |
| My wife | ប្រពន្ធខ្ញុំ | Brapon-Khnhom |
How Important Is Saying I Love You?
Love, as defined by Cambridge Dictionary, means having strong feelings of liking someone whether they are of the opposite gender, friend, or family. They say that if you are being loved by someone, it gives you strength. But if you deeply love someone it gives you courage.
We can easily say “I love you” in many different languages. It is common to use English but there are other languages such as Je t’aime in French, Te quiero in Spanish, Ti amo in Italian, and other different languages. But these words will mean nothing if you do not mean them. Saying “I love you” is not enough because it needs to be proven and felt. Though you can say it in every language you know or as many times as you want, it should also be felt through your actions.
How about you? Have you ever told someone that you love him/her? How did he/she respond? What is his/her reaction? It does not matter how big or small the reason is. The important thing is to follow what your heart says and let your heart speak on behalf of you. Watch how things will magically grow when you learn to love.
Learning How To Say I Love You In Khmer Effectively
One of the things that you should also consider when telling a person that you love him or her is the sincerity of how you say it. Even you, you don’t want to hear it from someone who does not mean it. Because kindness, generosity, and humbleness are part of Cambodian culture, you can easily fall in love with the people, and it will kind of impossible not to be sincere.
Of course, you could always say it in English. There’s a big possibility that locals will understand you but if you try saying “I love you” in their native language is something that will warm their hearts and put a smile on their faces.
Everyone is entitled to love and to be loved. As Reese Witherspoon says, “You always gain by giving love.” You can say it in different languages as long as you mean it. If you come to Cambodia, it is irresistible to find someone that is worth saying these words so it is better to learn the Khmer love phrases and words above. You never know when you’ll be using this but it is better to know these words. Who knows? Maybe your special someone is waiting for you in Cambodia.
Learn Khmer With The Ling App
Learning these phrases will give you little knowledge about their language. After you learn how it is written, you should also learn how to speak it properly. Some of the language learning tools that may help you are books, blog posts, videos, and even language learning apps and websites.
Through audio recordings, you will be able to hear the right way to pronounce every syllable of these words in Khmer. Like what is stated above, how you say these words also matters.
