Do you want to travel to Cambodia, but you haven’t started to learn Khmer yet? In case you don’t know where to start, we’ve put together the 6 Khmer question words you need to know before traveling! We’ve also included some great sentence examples to help you practice using these question words in real life!
Whether you plan to stay in Cambodia short-term or long-term, you can avoid many misunderstandings and talk with the locals directly if you learn the Khmer language and these question words! We know that Khmer might seem hard at first, but no language is impossible. If you put in the necessary time and effort, you’ll see progress, no matter how slow.
6 Question Words In The Khmer Language
We’re all familiar with the 5 question words, so let’s go straight into what those are in Khmer!
| English | Transliteration | Khmer |
| Who? | neakna? | អ្នកណា? |
| What? | avei? | អ្វី? |
| Where? | nov aena? | នៅឯណា? |
| When? | pelna? | ពេលណា? |
| Why? | haet avei? | ហេតុអ្វី? |
Although it doesn’t start with a “w,” there’s one more important question word we need to include.
| How? | yang mdech? | យ៉ាងដូចម្ដេច? |
There you go! Now you’ve learned all 6 question words in the Khmer language. While there aren’t that many, these are the most important words to know because they are the foundation for so many questions in Khmer. Speaking of questions, let’s learn some of the most commonly asked ones in Khmer!
Learn The Language More By Asking These Khmer Questions
You’ll definitely want to know these questions if you’re visiting Cambodia.
| English | Transliteration | Khmer |
| Can I help you? | taeu khnhom ach chuoy neak ban te? | តើខ្ញុំអាចជួយអ្នកបានទេ? |
| Do you speak English? | taeu neak niyeay pheasa angkles ban te? | តើអ្នកនិយាយភាសាអង់គ្លេសបានទេ? |
| How are you? | neak sokh sabbay te? | អ្នកសុខសប្បាយទេ? |
| How close is it? | taeu vea nov chit ponna? | តើវានៅជិតប៉ុណ្ណា? |
| How do you get to…? | taeu neak tov dal daoy robiebna…? | តើអ្នកទៅដល់ដោយរបៀបណា…? |
| How far is it? | taeu chamngay ponman? | តើចម្ងាយប៉ុន្មាន? |
| How much is this? | taeu ah nih thlai ponman? | តើនេះតម្លៃប៉ុន្មាន? |
| How old are you? | taeu neak ayuk ponman? | តើអ្នកអាយុប៉ុន្មាន? |
| What are you doing? | taeu neak kampong thveu avei? | តើអ្នកកំពុងធ្វើអ្វី? |
| What time is it? | tae maong ponman? | តើម៉ោងប៉ុន្មាន? |
| What’s this? | s’aei ke noeng? | ស្អីគេហ្នឹង? |
| What’s your name? | taeu neak chhmoh avei? | តើអ្នកឈ្មោះអ្វី? |
| When can we meet? | taeu yeung ach chuob knea nov pel na? | តើយើងអាចជួបគ្នានៅពេលណា? |
| When will I see you again? | taeu pelna khnhom noeng ban chuob neak mdang tiet? | តើពេលណាខ្ញុំនឹងបានជួបអ្នកម្តងទៀត? |
| Where are you going? | taeu neak kampong tov na? | តើអ្នកកំពុងទៅណា? |
| Where can I buy…? | taeu khnhom ach tinh … ban no aena? | តើខ្ញុំអាចទិញ…បាននៅឯណា? |
| Where can I find…? | taeu khnhom ach rok … ban nov aena? | តើខ្ញុំអាចរក…បាននៅឯណា? |
| Where do you live? | taeu neak ros nov aena? | តើអ្នករស់នៅឯណា? |
| Where is…? | … nov aena? | …នៅឯណា? |
| Where is he? | taeu koat nov aena? | តើគាត់នៅឯណា? |
| Where is she? | taeu neang nov aena? | តើនាងនៅឯណា? |
| Who are you? | neak chea nouna? | អ្នកជានរណា? |
| Why are you doing that? | het avei banchea neak thveu douch chneh? | ហេតុអ្វីបានជាអ្នកធ្វើដូច្នេះ? |
| Why do you like it? | het avei banchea neak choulchet vea? | ហេតុអ្វីបានជាអ្នកចូលចិត្តវា? |
| Why don’t you like it? | het avei banchea neak min choulchet vea? | ហេតុអ្វីបានជាអ្នកមិនចូលចិត្តវា? |
As you can see, the 6 question words make up the majority of these basic Khmer questions. You better start learning!
What Should You Know Before You Visit Cambodia?
Before venturing off to Cambodia, you should know some essential facts about the country beforehand!
Language Of Cambodia
As you probably already know, the Khmer language is the official language of Cambodia.
Proper Greetings
The official way to greet people in Cambodia is with a sampeah. Basically, a sampeah is when you place both palms together in front of your chest.
When greeting peers, you can keep the level of the sampeah near your chest. For elders or higher-ranking people, it should be placed near your chin. It should be at nose level for parents, grandparents, or teachers. When addressing kings, monks, or when praying at the temple, your sampeah should be at eyebrow level.
Bartering
If you’re going to Cambodia, don’t be afraid to barter and ask for discounts. We know it can be a little difficult or uncomfortable at first, but think of it as a way to practice your language skills! Of course, don’t get so caught up in asking for a discount that you come off rude. In the end, getting even a little discount is better than nothing.
Losing Face
Like many others in Asia, Cambodians have a fear of losing face. So, to not lose other people’s respect, they tend to smile at everything.
Remember that this doesn’t always mean they are happy or that when they nod in agreement, they understand, but, instead, they don’t want to admit that they don’t know or understand something. It’s not necessarily a bad quality, but just something to be aware of when you go to Cambodia.
Keep Learning Khmer And Other Languages With The Ling App!
Aren’t Khmer question words fascinating?! If you want to continue learning basic vocab and phrases in Khmer, about Khmer culture, or Cambodian history, you can check out the Ling App!
Ling is a language learning app where you can learn over 60 languages, ranging from Korean to Serbian, through fun and comprehensive lessons. The lessons also feature relevant vocabulary that can be used in real-life scenarios, not to mention the opportunity to practice writing the language. This is a handy feature, often not included in most other language apps, when learning languages that use characters or scripts as complex as Khmer.
By far, the most impressive feature of Ling is the interactive AI chatbot. With the app, you can communicate and have intelligent conversations with the chatbot and even receive feedback if your pronunciation could be improved. After all, learning a new language won’t do much good if people can’t understand you, right?
While the app has many other great features, we’d be here writing all day if we had to address them all in this blog post. But, speaking of blog posts, if you don’t already know, Ling has a huge language blog filled with content related to languages, cultures, food, and language tips. If you’re ever confused during a lesson or want to learn additional information, you can always check the blog for answers!
Whether you’re just starting your language journey or you’ve been a lifelong language learner, Ling can help you reach all your language goals!
