6.6 Key Vocabulary and Useful Expressions
| IPA | English |
|---|---|
| m’səl-menh | yesterday |
| t’ngai-nih | today |
| s’aek | tomorrow |
| khae-mun | last month |
| khae-kraoy | next month |
| nih | this |
| noh | that |
| dtii noh | there |
| m’dɔɔng dtiat | again |
| bpeel-naa | when |
| bɔng-rian | to teach |
| dtouw | to go |
| mook | to come |
| IPA | English |
|---|---|
| Khnhom baan bɔng-rian pia-saa Khmer. | I taught Khmer. |
| Koat baan dtouw kam-bpu-jia chnam-mun. | He went to Cambodia last year. |
| Neak baan dtouw kam-bpu-jia bpeel-naa? | When did you go to Cambodia? |
| Grammar Point | Summary |
|---|---|
| Past tense in Khmer | To express a past-tense action, the particle Baan “បាន” is placed in front of the the main verb. However, the particle is often omitted when the context is clear or the past expressions are introduced in the sentence
Examples: • I learned Khmer last year.
Khnhom
ខ្ញុំ
• I drank tea yesterday.
Khnhom
ខ្ញុំ
|
| Nih “This” and time expressions | To indicate a more specific period of time, expression such as Bprək-nih “this morning”, Aa-dtet-nih “this week, Khae-nih “this month” and Chnam-nih “this year” are used. |
| Time expressions | In Cambodian, verbs are not conjugated to indicate past or future. Time expressions such as M’səl-menh “Yesterday”, T’ngai-nih “Today” and S’aek “Tomorrow” are used to indicate tenses. Another way to express past or future tense is to add “Mun” or “Kraoy”. |
