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Some Khmer Basics to get you started:

 

Hello                    -              Suosday    

 

Yes                       -             Baat (for man) Cha (for woman)

 

No                        -             Otay

 

Please                  -             Suom

 

How are you?      -             Daa neh sok sabbai te?  

 

I'm fine, thanks   -             La'or, arkhun

 

Nice to meet you -            Reek ree-AY dae bahn skoal loak

 

Excuse me/Sorry  -            Sohm toh

 

I  (don´t) understand -    Khnum (at) yol

 

Where is a toilet/hotel? - Noev ey na bongkun/santhakea?

 

Thank you (very much) -  Akun jann

 

You´re welcome           -  Sohn anjoe-in

 

Goodbye                        - Lia suhn hao-y

Language Tips

Sometimes the braver traveler will learn some of the local language to better engage the people they meet.


Although, you really shouldn’t struggle with finding English speaking people in the tourist or main cities, you will find French spoken mainly by older people. However, the majority of Cambodia speaks Khmer.


Derived from an ancient Indian Sanskrit, Khmer is similar to both Thai and Lao alphabets, as they were developed from this language.

​Numbers


1  Muoy    
2  Pee    
3  Bey    
4  Buon    
5  Pram    
6  Pram-muoy    
7  Pram-pee    
8  Pram-bey    
9  Pram Buon    
10  Dorp

11 Dorp Muoy 

12 Dorp Pee

13 Dorp Bey 

​

20 Mphey

30 Sam sep

40 Sae sep
50  Haa-sep    
100  Muoy-roy    
500  Pram-roy    
1000  Muoy-pin    
5000  Pram-pin    

 

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