Welcome to the 8th lesson about Khmer grammar. We will first learn about prepositions, negation, questions, adverbs, and pronouns including: personal, object and possessive pronouns.
We will start with prepositions. In general, they are used to link words to other words. For example: I speak Khmer and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Khmer and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Khmer.
| Prepositions - Khmer |
|---|
and និង |
above ខាងលើ |
under ក្រោម |
before មុន |
after ក្រោយមក / បន្ទាប់មក |
in front of នៅខាងមុខ |
behind ខាងក្រោយ |
far from ឆ្ងាយពី |
near ជិត |
in ក្នុង |
inside ខាងក្នុង |
outside ខាងក្រៅ |
with ជាមួយ |
without គ្មាន |
about អំពី |
between ចន្លោះ / រវាង |
but ប៉ុន្តែ |
for សម្រាប់ / ចំពោះ |
from ពី / មកពី |
to ទៅ/ឆ្ពោះ |
The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.
| Prepositions + Rules - Khmer |
|---|
| I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] ខ្ញុំញាំមិនបាច់កាំបិត |
| she lives near the church [verb + preposition] នាងរស់នៅជិតវិហ៊ារ |
| he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] គាត់ខ្ពស់ជាងនាង |
| he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] គាត់បានមកជាមួយឆ្កែរបស់គាត់ |
| can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] តើអ្នកអាចមកជាមួយខ្ញុំទេ? |
Now let's learn how to make a negative sentence (negation). For example: Saying no, I can't, I don't ... The following examples use negation in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.
| Negation + Rules - Khmer |
|---|
| I understand you [affirmative form] ខ្ញុំយល់អំពីអ្នក |
| I don't understand you [negation + verb] ខ្ញុំមិនយល់អំពីអ្នក |
| this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] ពាក្យនេះមិនត្រឹមត្រូវ |
| don't leave me [imperative negation] កុំទុកខ្ញុំចោល |
| no problem [negation + noun] គ្មានបញ្ហា |
| Negative Sentences - Khmer |
|---|
| I don't speak French [negation + present tense] ខ្ញុំមិននិយាយភាសាបារាំង |
| she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] នាងមិនបានទៅអាលីម៉ង់ទេ |
| he cannot see us [negative modal verb] គាត់មិនអាចឃើញយើង |
| can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] តើនាងអាចលេងអុកបានទេ? |
| we will not come late [negation + future tense] យើងនិងមិនមកយឺតទេ |
Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:
| English - Khmer |
|---|
how? យ៉ាងម៉េច? |
what? អ្វី? |
who? អ្នកណា? |
why? ហេតុអ្វី? |
where? នៅណា? |
More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:
| Questions + Rules - Khmer |
|---|
| where do you live? [interrogative + verb] តើអ្នកស្នាក់នៅទីណា? |
| does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] តើនាងនិយាយភាសាចិនទេ? |
| how much is this? [interrogative preposition] តើនេះថ្លៃប៉ុន្មាន? |
| can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] តើអ្នកត្រូវការអ្វី? |
| what is your name? [interrogative preposition] តើអ្នកឈ្មោះអ្វី? |
It's time to learn the adverbs in Khmer. But what is an adverb? In general, adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. For example: You speak fast. The adverb is [fast] because it describes the verb and answers the question how do you speak?. Here is a list of the most common ones:
| Adverbs - Khmer |
|---|
now ឥឡូវនេះ |
yesterday ម្សិលមិញ |
today ថ្ងៃនេះ |
tonight យប់នេះ |
tomorrow ថ្ងៃស្អែក |
soon ឆាប់ៗ |
quickly យ៉ាងរហ័ស |
slowly យ៉ាងយឺតៗ |
together ព្រមជាមួយគ្នា |
very ណាស់ |
almost ភាគច្រើន /ស្ទើរតែទាំងអស់ |
always ជានិច្ចកាល |
usually តាមធម្មតា |
sometimes ពេលខ្លះ |
rarely ដោយកម្រ |
never មិនដែល |
The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.
| Adverbs + Rules - Khmer |
|---|
| do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] តើអ្នកយល់ខ្ញុំហើយរឺនៅ? |
| I need help immediately [noun + adverb] ខ្ញុំត្រូវការជំនួយជាបន្ទាន់ |
| she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] នាងឆ្លាតណាស់ |
| I will always love you [verb + adverb] ខ្ញុំនិងស្រលាញ់អ្នកជារៀងរហូត |
| can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] តើយើងអាចរៀនភាសាអាលីម៉ង់ជាមួយគ្នាទេ? |
We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Khmer. In general, a pronoun can be used instead of a noun. For example instead of saying my teacher speaks 3 languages, you can use the pronoun he, and say he speaks 3 languages. Here is a list of the most common ones:
| Personal Pronouns - Khmer |
|---|
I ខ្ញុំ |
you លោក/អ្នក |
he គាត់ |
she នាង |
we យើង |
they ពួកគេ |
| Object Pronouns - Khmer |
|---|
me ខ្ញុំ |
you លោក/អ្នក |
him គាត់ |
her គាត់ |
us យើង |
them ពួកគេ |
| Possessive Pronouns - Khmer |
|---|
my របស់ខ្ញុំ |
your របស់លោក/អ្នក |
his របស់គាត់ |
her របស់នាង |
our របស់យើង |
their របស់ពួកគេ |
I think it's better to put the above example in a sentence to better assist you. The following examples use pronouns in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence. We will start with the personal pronouns.
| Personal Pronouns - Khmer |
|---|
| I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] ខ្ញុំជាមិត្តអ្នក |
| you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] អ្នកនិយាយលឿន |
| he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] គាត់មានឆ្កែបី |
| she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] នាងអាចនិយាយភាសាអាលីម៉ង់ |
| we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] យើងនិងមិនមកយឺតទេ |
| they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] គេទិញនុំប៉ាំងនិងទឹកដោះគោ |
The object pronoun is used as a target by a verb, and usually come after that verb. For example: I gave him my book. The object pronoun here is him. Here are more examples:
| Object Pronouns - Khmer |
|---|
| can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] តើអ្នកអាចប្រាប់ឈ្មោះអ្នកបានទេ? |
| I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] ខ្ញុំនិងអោយលុយអ្នក |
| she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] នាងសរសេរសំបុត្រអោយគាត់ |
| they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] ពួកគេសូរសុខទុកនាងម្សិលមិញ |
| can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] តើនាងអាចជួយយើងបានទេ? |
| he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] គាត់អោយម្ហូបទៅពួកគេ |
| Possessive Pronouns - Khmer |
|---|
| my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] ខ្ញឈ្មោះម៉ាយ៉ា |
| your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] បងប្រុសអ្នករស់នៅទីនេះ |
| her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] ម្ដាយនាងដាំស្លរអោយយើង |
| his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] ចំណូលចិត្តរបស់គាត់គឺអានសៀវភៅ |
| our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] សុបិនរបស់យើងគឺទៅលេងប៉ារីស |
| their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] ផ្ទះរបស់ពួកគេនៅមិនឆ្ងាយទេ |
One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.
| Demonstrative Pronouns - Khmer |
|---|
this is my house នេះគឺជាផ្ទះរបស់ខ្ញុំ |
that restaurant is far ភោជនីយដ្ថាននៅឆ្ងាយ |
these apples are delicious ផ្លែប៉មទាំងនោះមានរស់ជាតិ |
those stars are shiny ផ្កាយទាំងនោះមានពន្លឺ |
I hope you learned a lot about the Khmer grammar in this lesson. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. The next lesson is below, have fun!
Inspirational Quote: First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. Epictetus |