Module 3: The Framework – Understanding Khmer Grammar
You have mastered the script and built a core vocabulary. Now, we will learn the rules to assemble these pieces into meaningful sentences. You'll be pleased to find that Khmer grammar is often more straightforward than English grammar. Let's begin building!
Lesson 3.1: Basic Sentence Structure: Subject-Verb-Object (SVO)
The best news for English speakers is that basic Khmer sentences follow the same structure you already know: Subject - Verb - Object. There are no complicated verb conjugations to worry about.
Example 1:
ខ្ញុំញ៉ាំបាយ (khnhom nham bai)
Breakdown: ខ្ញុំ (I) + ញ៉ាំ (eat) + បាយ (rice). Literally: "I eat rice."
Example 2:
គាត់ចូលចិត្តកាហ្វេ (koat chol-chet ka-fe)
Breakdown: គាត់ (He/She) + ចូលចិត្ត (likes) + កាហ្វេ (coffee). Literally: "She likes coffee."
Lesson 3.2: Pronouns in Depth
We met basic pronouns in Module 2. Here they are again for review. The most important thing to remember is that pronouns are often dropped in casual conversation if the context is clear.
| Khmer | Romanization | English |
|---|---|---|
| ខ្ញុំ | khnhom | I, me |
| អ្នក | neak | You |
| គាត់ | koat | He, she (polite) |
| វា | vea | It (for animals/objects) |
| យើង | yeung | We, us |
| ពួកគេ | puok-kei | They, them |
Lesson 3.3: Forming "Yes/No" Questions
Turning a statement into a "yes/no" question is incredibly simple. You just add the particle ទេ (dtei) to the end of the sentence. The tone rises slightly at the end.
Statement: អ្នកចូលចិត្តកាហ្វេ។ (neak chol-chet ka-fe) - You like coffee.
Question: អ្នកចូលចិត្តកាហ្វេទេ? (neak chol-chet ka-fe dtei?) - Do you like coffee?
Answering:
Yes (male): បាទ ខ្ញុំចូលចិត្ត (baat, khnhom chol-chet).
Yes (female): ចាស ខ្ញុំចូលចិត្ត (chaa, khnhom chol-chet).
No: ទេ ខ្ញុំមិនចូលចិត្តទេ (dtei, khnhom min chol-chet dtei).
Lesson 3.4: Question Words (Who, What, Where...)
These essential words allow you to ask for specific information. They typically come at the end of the sentence or after the verb.
| Khmer | Romanization | English | Example Sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
| នរណា / អ្នកណា | nor-na / neak-na | Who | គាត់ជានរណា? (Who is he/she?) |
| អ្វី / អី | a-vey / ey | What | នេះគឺជាអ្វី? (What is this?) |
| នៅឯណា | nov-ae-na | Where | ផ្សារនៅឯណា? (Where is the market?) |
| ពេលណា | pel-na | When | អ្នកនឹងមកពេលណា? (When will you come?) |
| ហេតុអ្វី | haet-a-vey | Why | ហេតុអ្វីអ្នកសើច? (Why are you laughing?) |
| របៀបណា / ម៉េច | ro-biep-na / mech | How | អ្នកធ្វើម្ហូបដោយរបៀបណា? (How do you cook?) |
| ប៉ុន្មាន | pon-maan | How much / How many | តម្លៃប៉ុន្មាន? (How much is the price?) |
Lesson 3.5 - 3.8: Modifying Sentences
Indicating Time (Lesson 3.5)
There are no verb conjugations for tense. Instead, you simply add time words to the sentence.
| Yesterday | ម្សិលមិញ (m'sel-minh) | ម្សិលមិញខ្ញុំបានទៅផ្សារ។ (I went to the market yesterday.) |
| Today | ថ្ងៃនេះ (thngai-nih) | ថ្ងៃនេះខ្ញុំធ្វើការ។ (I work today.) |
| Tomorrow | ថ្ងៃស្អែក (thngai-sa'ek) | ថ្ងៃស្អែកខ្ញុំនឹងទៅភ្នំពេញ។ (I will go to Phnom Penh tomorrow.) |
| Now | ឥឡូវនេះ (ey-lov-nih) | ខ្ញុំរវល់ឥឡូវនេះ។ (I am busy now.) |
Negation (Lesson 3.6)
មិន (min) or អត់ (ât) are placed before the verb to make it negative. They are often followed by ទេ at the end of the sentence for emphasis.
Example: ខ្ញុំអត់យល់ទេ។ (khnhom ât yul dtei) - I don't understand.
Adjective Placement (Lesson 3.7)
Adjectives ALWAYS come after the noun they describe. This is a simple but very important rule.
Example: ឡានធំ (laan thom) - a big car (car big).
Example 2: ផ្ទះពណ៌ខៀវស្អាត (phteah por khew sa'aat) - a beautiful blue house (house color-blue beautiful).
Using ណាស់ (nah) for Emphasis (Lesson 3.8)
Place ណាស់ (nah) after an adjective to mean "very".
Example: កាហ្វេនេះក្តៅណាស់! (ka-fe nih kdau nah!) - This coffee is very hot!
Lesson 3.9 - 3.12: Building Bigger Sentences
Classifiers (Lesson 3.9)
When counting nouns, you often need a classifier word between the number and the noun. The most common one for people is នាក់ (neak).
Example: មនុស្សបីនាក់ (mo-nooh bei neak) - three people (people three person-classifier).
Possessives (Lesson 3.10)
To show possession, use the word របស់ (rɔbɑh) between the owner and the object. It's often dropped in casual speech.
Example: ផ្ទះរបស់ខ្ញុំ (phteah rɔbɑh khnhom) - My house (house of me).
Preposition នៅ (nɨv) (Lesson 3.11)
This is the essential word for location, meaning "at", "in", or "on".
Example: ខ្ញុំនៅផ្ទះ។ (khnhom nov phteah) - I am at home.
Example 2: សៀវភៅនៅលើតុ។ (siev-phov nov leu tok) - The book is on the table.
Conjunctions (Lesson 3.12)
| And | និង (nĭng) | ខ្ញុំចូលចិត្តកាហ្វេនិងតែ។ (I like coffee and tea.) |
| But | ប៉ុន្តែ (bŏntae) | ខ្ញុំចង់ទៅ ប៉ុន្តែខ្ញុំរវល់។ (I want to go, but I am busy.) |
Lesson 3.13: Putting It All Together - Activity
Build a Paragraph!
Let's translate the following story into Khmer, piece by piece, using everything we've learned. This is how you start to think in a new language!
English Story: "Yesterday, my older sister went to the market. The market is very big. She does not like spicy food, but she likes sweet coffee."
Step 1: "Yesterday, my older sister went to the market."
Khmer: ម្សិលមិញ បងស្រីរបស់ខ្ញុំបានទៅផ្សារ។
(Time adverb + Subject + Verb + Object)
Step 2: "The market is very big."
Khmer: ផ្សារធំណាស់។
(Subject + Adjective + Emphasis)
Step 3: "She does not like spicy food, but she likes sweet coffee."
Khmer: គាត់មិនចូលចិត្តអាហារហឹរទេ ប៉ុន្តែគាត់ចូលចិត្តកាហ្វេផ្អែម។
(Subject + Negation + Verb + Object, Conjunction + Subject + Verb + Object)