Simple Khmer Lessons for beginners

Lesson 0: Preliminary lesson

Frequently used words
I	Kha’ngom
You	Neak

Baht	Yes (men)
Chas	Yes (women)
Teh	No

Thank you	Or kun
You’re welcome	Men ei the
Okay	Yol proom
Good bye	Lear heuy
Sorry	Soom toos

How are you?	Sok sab baay chea teh?
How much?	Dom lay pon maan?
Are you happy?	Sab baay teh?
Do you understand?	Yol teh?

Eat	Hope or Gnam
Rice	Baay
Drink (verb)	Peuk
Water	Teuk
Sleep	Dek
Go	Tov
Study	Rian
Play	Leng

Happy	Sab baay
Sad	Men sab bay
Good	La’or
Bad	Men la’or
Clever	Cha laat
Stupid	Men cha laat
Delicious	Cha gnaing
Very	Nas (said after the adjective)
Many, a lot	Chroeurn

Children	Koon Kha’meng
Student	Sus (for secondary students and below), Ni Set (for tertiary students)
Teacher	Krou (secondary and below), Sas stra char (tertiary)
School	Sar lar rian (school), Moh har vih chear lai (university)

Conversation
Jay:	Sour sdey
	Hello
Sok:	Sour sdey. Teur neak choh'moss ei?
	Hello. What is your name?
Jay:	Kha’ngom choh’moss Jay. Chos neak ving?
	My name is Jay. And you?
Sok:	Kha’ngom choh’moss Sok.
	My name is Sok.
Jay:	Sok sab baay chear teh?
	How are you doing?
Sok:	Sok sab baay. Or kun!
	I’m fine. Thank you.
Jay:	Kha’ngom kor sok sab bay der.
	I’m fine too.
Sok:	Lear heuy.
	Good bye.
Jay:	Lear heuy.
	Good bye.

Vocabulary
Words	Meaning
Soursdey	Hello
	Soursdey is used in general. To show politeness to people who are much older
	than us such as parents and teachers, we use “chom reap sour” instead.
Teh	Right? Isn't it?
Teur	Question word equivalent to "Do", "Does", "Is" or "Are" in English.
	Questions in Khmer language starts with a “teur” to indicate that it’s a question.
	In daily conversation, people omit "teur" and "neak" for convenience purpose.
	E.g. Instead of: "Teur neak sok sab baay chear teh?"
	They use: "Sok sab baay chear teh?"
Ei	What?

Conversation
Traveller:	Taxi. tov Palm Village dom lai pon maan?
	Taxi, how much does it cost to go to Asia Hotel?
Driver:	Bram dollar.
	$5
Traveller:	Yol proom.
	Okay. (I agree)
Driver:	Soom svar khom dell baan mork leng pror tes Kampuchea.
	Welcome to Cambodia!

Vocabulary
Words	Meaning
Tov	Go
Are Zee	Asia
Dom lai	Price
Pon maan	How much? How many?
Yol proom	Okay.

Conversation
Buyer:	Sour sdey.
	Hello.
Seller:	Sou sdey! Trov kar ting ey?
	Hello, what would you like to buy?
Buyer:	Baht, Kha’gnom chong ting tom ning?
	Yes, I want to buy stuffs/things/goods.
Buyer:	Teuk Sot nis dom lai pon maan?
	How much is this drinking water?
Seller:	2 poine riel.
	2 thousand riel.
Buyer:	1 poine bram rooy riel baan teh?
	1500 riel can?
Seller:	Yol proom.
	Okay.
Buyer:	Nis luy.
	Okay, here you are (here’s the money).
Seller:	Or kun.
	Thank you.

Vocabulary
Words	Meaning
Trov kar	Would like
Ting	Buy
Tom ning	Things, goods
Teuk sot	Drinking water (purified water)

Places
Oh tel	Hotel
Poch ca ni ya thaan	Restaurant
Phsar	Market
Haang are hare	Food shops

Things
Kour Aaav	Clothes
Kour	Trousers, jeans, pants, etc…
Aaav	Shirts, t-shirts, etc…
Sar bouh	Soap
Are hare	Food
Teuk	Water
Teuk krouch	Soft drink