3.9 Key Vocabulary and Useful Expressions

Useful Vocabulary
IPA English
leek number
krua-saa family
sa-maa-chək member
bɔɔng-p’oon sibling
bpon-maan how many/how much
mo-haa-vi-jia-lai university
vi-jia-lai high school
koon children/kids
nəng and
haəy already
Useful Expressions
IPA English
Khnhom mian bɔɔng-p’oon bpii neak. I have two siblings.
Koat mian koon-bproh m’neak. I have a son.
Khnhom aa-yu sam-seb-buan chnam. I am 34 years old.
koat riab-kaa haəy. He got married already.
koat jia m’daay roo-bɔh khnhom. She is my mother.
Grammar Point Summary
Question word: bpon-maan Bpon-maan is placed at the end of a statement to ask “How many?” and “How much?”. bpon-maan is also used to ask for a person’s age. For example:

  • Neak mian koon bpon-maan neak? “How many children do you have?”
  • Neak aa-yu bpon-maan? “How old are you?”
The classifier “Neak” The classifier Neak is used for people with the question bpon-maan. However, when Muay (one) is used with a classifier, it is contracted to M’neak. For example:

  • Koat mian koon-bproh m’neak. “He has a son.”
Possessive adjective “roo-bɔh” The word for “of” is Roo-bɔh and possession can be expressed using the pattern:  noun+roo-bɔh+ possessor. The word roo-bɔh is frequently omitted in spoken language.

 

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