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 | English | Khmer | English | Khmer |
| Hello | jum-reap soo-a | Train | ra dteah plerng | 1 | moo ay |
| How Are You | tau neak sok sapbaiy jea teh? | Cyclo | see kloa | 2 | bpee |
| Good Morning | arun suor sdei | Policeman | bpoa leeh or nokor bahl | 3 | bey |
| Good Afternoon | tiveah suor sdei | Yesterday | m'serl menh | 4 | buon |
| Good Evening | sa-yoanh suor sdei | Today | t'ngai nih | 5 | bpram |
| Good Night | reah-trey suor sdei | Morning | bpreuk | 6 | bpram moo ay |
| My name is. . . | k'nyom tch muoh | Midnight | aa-tree-at | 7 | bpram bpee |
| Yes | baat | Night | yoop | 8 | bpram bey |
| No | dteh | Tomorrow | sa-aik | 9 | bpram buon |
| Please | sohm mehta | Sunday | t-ngai aa-dteut | 10 | dahp |
| Thank You | or-goon | Monday | t-ngai jan | 11 | dahp moo ay |
| Excuse Me | sohm dtoh | Tuesday | t-ngai ong-gee-a | 20 | m'phey |
| Goodbye | joom-reap leah | Wednesday | t-ngai bpoot | 30 | saam seup |
| I don't understand | k'nyom men yoo-ul teh | Thursday | t-ngai bprah-hoa-a | 40 | seah seup |
| I want a. . . | k'nyom jang baan. . . | Friday | t-ngai sok | 50 | haa seup |
| Water | dteuk | Saturday | t-ngai sao | 60 | hok seup |
| Tea | dtae | Month | khaeh | 70 | jeht seup |
| Uncooked Rice | angkoh | Year | ch'nam | 80 | bpait seup |
| Cooked Rice | bai | Last Year | ch'nam moon | 90 | gao seup |
| Turn Left/Right | bot dtov kahng ch'wayng/s'dum | New Year | ch'nam thmey | 100 | moo-ay roy |
| Go Straight | dtov dtrong | Next Year | ch'nam groy | 1,000 | moo-ay bpoan |
| Meat | saich | January | ma ga raa | 10,000 | moo-ay meun |
| Fish | dt'ray | February | komphreak | 100,000 | moo-ay sain |
| Chicken | moan | March | meenah | 1,000,000 | moo-ay lee-un |
| Bread | num bpung | April | meh sah | ||
| Restaurant | haang bai | May | oo sa phea | ||
| Where is the. . . ? | noev eah nah. . ? | June | mi thok nah | ||
| Market | p'sah | July | ka kada | ||
| Bank | tho nee-a kear | August | say haa | ||
| Post Office | bprai sa nee | September | kan'ya | ||
| Doctor | b-peth | October | dto laa | ||
| Hospital | mon dtee b-peth | November | wech a gaa | ||
| Bus | laan ch'nou | December | t'noo | ||
| Boat | dtook |