Learn Khmer

Planning a trip to Cambodia? Better learn a little Khmer! English may get you pretty far in Phnom Penh, but to really appreciate the uniqueness of The Cambodian Kingdom, why not learn a little Cambodian?!

Perfect for Tourists!
Here's a few hints to help with the pronunciation. There are 33 consonants and 26 vowels. To simplify this, we will give you the transliterations (meaning, we're writing the Khmer in phonetic English).

* "Ai" is pronounced as in Thai;
* "ay" as in pay;
* "dt" is pronounced as a t;
* "bp" is pronounced as p;
* "oo" as in cook;
* "ao" as in Laos.

 

English Khmer
Hello jum-reap soo-a
How Are You tau neak sok
  sapbaiy jea teh?
Good Morning arun suor sdei
Good Afternoon tiveah suor sdei
Good Evening sa-yoanh suor sdei
Good Night reah-trey suor sdei
My name is. . . k'nyom tch muoh
Yes baat
No dteh
Please sohm mehta
Thank You or-goon
Excuse Me sohm dtoh
Goodbye joom-reap leah
I don't understand k'nyom men
yoo-ul teh
I want a. . . k'nyom jang baan. . .
Water dteuk
Tea dtae
Uncooked Rice angkoh
Cooked Rice bai
Turn Left/Right bot dtov kahng
  ch'wayng/s'dum
Go Straight dtov dtrong
Meat saich
Fish

dt'ray
English Khmer
Chicken moan
Bread num bpung
Restaurant haang bai
Where is the. . . ? noev eah nah. . ?
Market p'sah
Bank tho nee-a kear
Post Office bprai sa nee
Doctor b-peth
Hospital mon dtee b-peth
Bus laan ch'noul
Boat dtook
Train ra dteah plerng
Cyclo see kloa
Policeman bpoa leeh or
  nokor bahl
Yesterday m'serl menh
Today t'ngai nih
Morning bpreuk
Midnight aa-tree-at
Night yoop
Tomorrow sa-aik
Sunday t-ngai aa-dteut
Monday t-ngai jan
Tuesday t-ngai ong-gee-a
Wednesday t-ngai bpoot
Thursday t-ngai bprah-hoa-a
Friday t-ngai sok
Saturday t-ngai sao
Month khaeh
Year ch'nam
Last Year ch'nam moon
New Year ch'nam thmey
Next Year ch'nam groy
English Khmer
January ma ga raa
February komphreak
March meenah
April meh sah
May oo sa phea
June mi thok nah
July ka kada
August say haa
September kan'ya
October dto laa
November wech a gaa
December t'noo
1 moo ay
2 bpee
3 bey
4 buon
5 bpram
6 bpram moo ay
7 bpram bpee
8 bpram bey
9 bpram buon
10 dahp
11 dahp moo ay
20 m'phey
30 saam seup
40 seah seup
50 haa seup
60 hok seup
70 jeht seup
80 bpait seup
90 gao seup
100 moo-ay roy
1,000 moo-ay bpoan
10,000 moo-ay meun
100,000 moo-ay sain
1,000,000 moo-ay lee-un



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