6.4 The Demonstrative Adjective Nih “This”
Nih “This” and Time Expressions
To indicate a more specific period of time, expressions such as Bprək nih “this morning”, Aa-dtet nih “this week,” Khae nih “this month”, and Chnam nih “this year” are used.
The years are expressed by the pattern Chnam (year)+Number. For example: 2021 “chanm bpii-bpoan m’phey-muay “
1. Listening and Speaking
Suppose Cambodian people in the video below ask you these questions, how would you respond?
| Khmer | Questions in Transliteration | English |
|---|---|---|
| ១. ថ្ងៃនេះជាថ្ងៃអង្គារ ស្អែកជាថ្ងៃអី? | 1. T’ngai nih jia t’ngai ɔng-kee s’aek jia t’ngai ey? | 1. Today is Tuesday. What day is tomorrow? |
| ២. ខែទី១២គឺជា[1]ខែអី? | 2. Khae dtii dɔb-bpii keu jia khae ey? | 2. What is the twelfth of the year ? |
| ៣. ខែទីប្រាំគឺជាខែអី? | 3. khae dtii bpram keu jia khae ey? | 3. What is the fifth of the year? |
| ៤. ថ្ងៃនេះជាថ្ងៃសុក្រ ម្សិលមិញជាថ្ងៃអី? | 4. T’ngai nih jia t’ngai sok m’səl-menh jia t’ngai ey? | 4. Today is Friday. What day was yesterday? |
| ៥. ឆ្នាំនេះជាឆ្នាំ២០១៤ ឆ្នាំក្រោយជាឆ្នាំអី? | 5. Chnam nih jia chnam bpii-bpoan dɔb-baun chnam kraoy jia chnam ey? | 5. This is 2014. What is the next? |
| ៦. ឆ្នាំមុនជាឆ្នាំអី? | 6. Chnam mun jia chnam ey? | 6. What was the previous year? |
2. Speaking
Record yourself responding to the questions and share it with your friends/teacher for further feedback.
[1] គឺជា is the full version of ជា “To be”.
