89 Easy Khmer Vocab For Daily Life!

Have you always wanted to travel to Cambodia, but you’ve been too afraid or intimidated to learn Khmer? If that’s the case, you’re not alone. Learning a new language, especially one like the Khmer language, can leave you confused about where to start. Should you start with speaking, writing, or reading? To help you, we’ve come up with tons of easy Khmer vocab for daily life!

Eighty-nine might seem like a big number, so to prevent yourself from getting overwhelmed, you can start with just a few useful phrases and a few words and slowly build up your vocabulary until you’ve learned all 89! After all, language learning is a journey. As long as you make time to practice every day, you’re going to see progress, no matter if it’s fast or slow.

To start, we’ll be talking a little about the structure of the Khmer language and then give a brief background on Cambodia. It’s always good to get a refresher, especially if you’re planning on traveling there in the future. After that, we’ll share the basic Khmer vocab for daily life!

The Structure Of The Khmer Language

Khmer is categorized as an Austroasiatic language, meaning that it belongs to the language family of Mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia.

Interestingly, Khmer was greatly influenced by Sanskrit and Pali. If you’re into linguistics, then the relationship between these three languages might be worth looking into further!

Here are some other essential points to know about the structure of Khmer:

  • Not a tonal language
  • Words are stressed on the final syllable
  • Three main dialects
  • Written in Khmer script
  • General word order is subject-verb-object

Where Is Khmer Used?

Khmer Common Vocab For Daily Life

Khmer is the official language of Cambodia, a Southeast Asian country that borders Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. The country has approximately 17 million people, but the number of Khmer speakers is estimated to be only around 13 million. If you’re traveling to Cambodia, you’ll most likely end up in Phnom Penh, the capital city.

Fun fact: Texas, a state in the southernmost part of the United States, is 3.8 times bigger than Cambodia!

Easy Khmer Vocab For Daily Life

Khmer Common Vocab For Daily Life

Now that you’re more familiar with the structure of Khmer and the country of Cambodia, you can start learning some practical, common vocab and phrases to help you get around in daily life!

We’ve broken up the vocabulary into five categories to make it easier. If you’re interested in learning the vocabulary of all five categories, then start practicing! But, if you’re looking to learn or refresh your memory on just a couple of categories, then that’s fine too! The categories are listed below:

  1. Meeting People
  2. Essential Pronouns
  3. Dining Out
  4. Essential Verbs
  5. Essential Nouns

So, let’s begin!

Meeting People

English Cambodian TransliterationCambodian
Hello! suostei!សួស្តី!
How are you? anak​ sokhasabbay​ te?អ្នក​សុខសប្បាយ​ទេ?
I am fine! khnhom​ sokh​ sabbay!ខ្ញុំ​សុខ​សប្បាយ!
I am sad. khnhom​ pibeakchett.ខ្ញុំ​ពិបាកចិត្ត។
What is your name? tae​ anak​ mean​ chhmoh​ avei?តើ​អ្នក​មាន​ឈ្មោះ​អ្វី?
My name is… chhmoh​ robsakhnhom​ ku…ឈ្មោះ​របស់ខ្ញុំ​គឺ…
Where are you from? tae​ anak​ mk pinea?តើ​អ្នក​មកពីណា?
I am from… khnhom​ mk pi…ខ្ញុំ​មកពី…
Can you speak Khmer? tae anak cheh pheasaeakhmer te?តើអ្នកចេះភាសាខ្មែរទេ?
I’m sorry, I can’t speak Khmer. khnhom somtosa khnhom min chehniyeay khmer te.ខ្ញុំសុំទោស ខ្ញុំមិនចេះនិយាយខ្មែរទេ។
Do you speak English? tae anak niyeay pheasaeaangklesa te?តើអ្នកនិយាយភាសាអង់គ្លេសទេ?
Do you understand? tae​ anak​ yl​ te?តើ​អ្នក​យល់​ទេ?
I understand. khnhom​ yl.ខ្ញុំ​យល់។
I don’t understand. khnhom min yl te.ខ្ញុំមិនយល់ទេ។
Yes! jah!បាទ
No. te.ទេ
No problem! kmean​ banhhea!គ្មាន​បញ្ហា!
It’s nice to meet you! rikreay del ban chuob anak!រីករាយដែលបានជួបអ្នក!
Where are you going? tae​ anak​ kampoung​ townea?តើ​អ្នក​កំពុង​ទៅណា?
I am going to… khnhom​ nung​ tow…ខ្ញុំ​នឹង​ទៅ…
Where is the market? tae​ phsaar​ now​ ena?តើ​ផ្សារ​នៅ​ឯណា​?
Thank you! arkoun!អរគុណ!
See you later! chuob​ knea​ pel​ kraoy!ជួប​គ្នា​ពេល​ក្រោយ!
See you tomorrow! saek​ chuob​ knea!ស្អែក​ជួប​គ្នា!
Goodbye! ot teh!លាហើយ!

Essential Pronouns

EnglishCambodian TransliterationCambodian
Mekhnhomខ្ញុំ
Youanakអ្នក
Sheneangនាង
Herrobsa neangរបស់នាង
He/Himkeatគាត់
Itveaវា។
Weyeungយើង
Uspuok yeungពួកយើង
Theypuokkeពួកគេ
Thempuokkeពួកគេ។

Dining Out

EnglishCambodian TransliterationCambodian
I am hungry!khnhom​ khlean!ខ្ញុំ​ឃ្លាន!
I am thirsty!khnhom​ srektuk!ខ្ញុំ​ស្រេកទឹក!
Can I order?tae khnhom ach banhchea ban te?តើខ្ញុំអាចបញ្ជាបានទេ?
I’d like to order…khnhom chng kom m ng mhoub…ខ្ញុំចង់កុំម៉ង់ម្ហូប…
Water, please?som tach?ឲ្យខ្ញុំសូមទឹកមួយកែវមក?
I am a vegetarian.khnhom chea anakbuosa.ខ្ញុំជាអ្នកបួស។
No spicy, please.min hoer.មិនហឹរ។
Really spicy, please!pitchea hoer men saum!ពិតជាហឹរមែនសូម!
Do you have…?tae​ anak​ mean​ te…?តើ​អ្នក​មាន​ទេ…?
What is this?tae​ nih​ chea​ avei?តើ​នេះ​ជា​អ្វី?
I love it!khnhom​ sraleanh​ vea!ខ្ញុំ​ស្រឡាញ់​វា!
It tastes delicious!vea mean rosacheate chhnganh!វាមានរសជាតិឆ្ងាញ់!
I don’t like it. khnhom min chaulchett vea te.ខ្ញុំមិនចូលចិត្តវាទេ។
How much is it?tae​ vea​ meanotamlei​ bonman?តើ​វា​មានតម្លៃ​ប៉ុន្មាន?
Expensivethlaiថ្លៃ
Cheapthaokថោក
The bill, please?som ket loyវិក័យប័ត្រសូម?
I will definitely come back!khnhom brakadchea nung tralb mokvinh!ខ្ញុំប្រាកដជានឹងត្រលប់មកវិញ!

Essential Verbs

EnglishCambodian TransliterationCambodian
To travelknong​ kar​ thveu​ damnaerក្នុង​ការ​ធ្វើ​ដំណើរ
To lovesraleanhស្រឡាញ់
To hatesaabស្អប់
To likechaulchetចូលចិត្ត
To agreeylpromយល់ព្រម
To disagreemin ylsrabមិនយល់ស្រប
To datemokadl bachchobbanមកដល់បច្ចុប្បន្ន
To eatnhoamញ៉ាំ
To drinkphoekផឹក
To thinkkitគិត
To gotowទៅ
To dreamdaembi so be nដើម្បីសុបិន្ត
To visittow​ lengទៅ​លេង
To translatebakabreបកប្រែ
To talkdaembi niyeayដើម្បីនិយាយ

Essential Nouns

EnglishCambodian TransliterationCambodian
Bathroombantobtukបន្ទប់ទឹក
Toiletbangkonបង្គន់
Phonetoursapទូរស័ព្ទ
Datatinnonyទិន្នន័យ
TVtourotossaaទូរទស្សន៍
Laptopkompyoutr yuordaiកុំព្យូទ័រយួរដៃ
Booksievphowសៀវភៅ
Languagepheasaeaភាសា
Friendsmitt phokteមិត្តភក្តិ
Tripdamnaer kamsanដំណើរកំសាន្ត
Airplaneyontohaohយន្តហោះ
Worldpiphoplokពិភពលោក
Addressasayodthanអាសយដ្ឋាន
Localsanak srokអ្នកស្រុក
Cambodianschoncheate khmerជនជាតិខ្មែរ
Platechanចាន
Bowlchanចាន
Spoonslabapreaស្លាបព្រា
Forksamសម
Chopstickschangkuahចង្កឹះ
Napkinkansaengកន្សែង

Can’t Stop Learning? Try The Ling App!

Khmer Common Vocab For Daily Life

If you want to learn more about Khmer, all you have to do is download the Ling App!

The Ling App is a language learning app that has been explicitly designed for eager language learners like you! It offers 60+ languages and delivers them in the form of daily lessons, mini-games, quizzes, and writing exercises! The app has lessons for beginners and advanced learners alike, so you don’t have to worry about not finding what you’re looking for. Not to mention, the app features a chatbot that you can talk with directly in real-time.

Once you finish a lesson, you can extend your knowledge of that language even more by checking out Ling’s free language blog. The blog covers topics such as culture, food, and much more!

As far as the app itself, it’s easy to navigate, no matter your age, and runs smoothly. It’s also available in the App Store, Google Play, and in a desktop version. So, you really don’t have an excuse not to download it!

Whether you want to master Khmer or you’re looking to learn another language, Ling is there for you!

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