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 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
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:
- Meeting People
- Essential Pronouns
- Dining Out
- Essential Verbs
- Essential Nouns
So, let’s begin!
Meeting People
| English | Cambodian Transliteration | Cambodian | |
| Hello! | suostei! | សួស្តី! | |
| How are you? | anak sokhasabbay te? | អ្នកសុខសប្បាយទេ? | |
| I am fine! | khnhom sokh sabbay! | ខ្ញុំសុខសប្បាយ! | |
| I am sad. | khnhom pibeakchett. | ខ្ញុំពិបាកចិត្ត។ | |
| What is your name? | tae anak mean chhmoh avei? | តើអ្នកមានឈ្មោះអ្វី? | |
| My name is… | chhmoh robsakhnhom ku… | ឈ្មោះរបស់ខ្ញុំគឺ… | |
| Where are you from? | tae anak mk pinea? | តើអ្នកមកពីណា? | |
| I am from… | khnhom mk pi… | ខ្ញុំមកពី… | |
| 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? | តើអ្នកយល់ទេ? | |
| I understand. | khnhom yl. | ខ្ញុំយល់។ | |
| I don’t understand. | khnhom min yl te. | ខ្ញុំមិនយល់ទេ។ | |
| Yes! | jah! | បាទ | |
| No. | te. | ទេ | |
| No problem! | kmean banhhea! | គ្មានបញ្ហា! | |
| It’s nice to meet you! | rikreay del ban chuob anak! | រីករាយដែលបានជួបអ្នក! | |
| Where are you going? | tae anak kampoung townea? | តើអ្នកកំពុងទៅណា? | |
| I am going to… | khnhom nung tow… | ខ្ញុំនឹងទៅ… | |
| Where is the market? | tae phsaar now ena? | តើផ្សារនៅឯណា? | |
| Thank you! | arkoun! | អរគុណ! | |
| See you later! | chuob knea pel kraoy! | ជួបគ្នាពេលក្រោយ! | |
| See you tomorrow! | saek chuob knea! | ស្អែកជួបគ្នា! | |
| Goodbye! | ot teh! | លាហើយ! |
Essential Pronouns
| English | Cambodian Transliteration | Cambodian |
| Me | khnhom | ខ្ញុំ |
| You | anak | អ្នក |
| She | neang | នាង |
| Her | robsa neang | របស់នាង |
| He/Him | keat | គាត់ |
| It | vea | វា។ |
| We | yeung | យើង |
| Us | puok yeung | ពួកយើង |
| They | puokke | ពួកគេ |
| Them | puokke | ពួកគេ។ |
Dining Out
| English | Cambodian Transliteration | Cambodian |
| I am hungry! | khnhom khlean! | ខ្ញុំឃ្លាន! |
| I am thirsty! | khnhom srektuk! | ខ្ញុំស្រេកទឹក! |
| 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…? | តើអ្នកមានទេ…? |
| What is this? | tae nih chea avei? | តើនេះជាអ្វី? |
| I love it! | khnhom sraleanh vea! | ខ្ញុំស្រឡាញ់វា! |
| 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? | តើវាមានតម្លៃប៉ុន្មាន? |
| Expensive | thlai | ថ្លៃ |
| Cheap | thaok | ថោក |
| The bill, please? | som ket loy | វិក័យប័ត្រសូម? |
| I will definitely come back! | khnhom brakadchea nung tralb mokvinh! | ខ្ញុំប្រាកដជានឹងត្រលប់មកវិញ! |
Essential Verbs
| English | Cambodian Transliteration | Cambodian |
| To travel | knong kar thveu damnaer | ក្នុងការធ្វើដំណើរ |
| To love | sraleanh | ស្រឡាញ់ |
| To hate | saab | ស្អប់ |
| To like | chaulchet | ចូលចិត្ត |
| To agree | ylprom | យល់ព្រម |
| To disagree | min ylsrab | មិនយល់ស្រប |
| To date | mokadl bachchobban | មកដល់បច្ចុប្បន្ន |
| To eat | nhoam | ញ៉ាំ |
| To drink | phoek | ផឹក |
| To think | kit | គិត |
| To go | tow | ទៅ |
| To dream | daembi so be n | ដើម្បីសុបិន្ត |
| To visit | tow leng | ទៅលេង |
| To translate | bakabre | បកប្រែ |
| To talk | daembi niyeay | ដើម្បីនិយាយ |
Essential Nouns
| English | Cambodian Transliteration | Cambodian |
| Bathroom | bantobtuk | បន្ទប់ទឹក |
| Toilet | bangkon | បង្គន់ |
| Phone | toursap | ទូរស័ព្ទ |
| Data | tinnony | ទិន្នន័យ |
| TV | tourotossaa | ទូរទស្សន៍ |
| Laptop | kompyoutr yuordai | កុំព្យូទ័រយួរដៃ |
| Book | sievphow | សៀវភៅ |
| Language | pheasaea | ភាសា |
| Friends | mitt phokte | មិត្តភក្តិ |
| Trip | damnaer kamsan | ដំណើរកំសាន្ត |
| Airplane | yontohaoh | យន្តហោះ |
| World | piphoplok | ពិភពលោក |
| Address | asayodthan | អាសយដ្ឋាន |
| Locals | anak srok | អ្នកស្រុក |
| Cambodians | choncheate khmer | ជនជាតិខ្មែរ |
| Plate | chan | ចាន |
| Bowl | chan | ចាន |
| Spoon | slabaprea | ស្លាបព្រា |
| Fork | sam | សម |
| Chopsticks | changkuah | ចង្កឹះ |
| Napkin | kansaeng | កន្សែង |
Can’t Stop Learning? Try The Ling App!
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!
