Conjunctions: 'និង', 'ហើយ', 'ប៉ុន្តែ', 'ឬ'

01

'និង' Joins Parallel Items

Use និង (nɨngnung) to link items that sit together in one clause — most often nouns, but also adjectives or verbs that share the same subject or object — like a list connector.

• ឆ្កែនិងឆ្មា

  chkae nɨng chmaachkae nung chmaa

  a dog and a cat

• ខ្ញុំនិងអ្នក

  khñom nɨng nĕəkkhnom nung neek

  I and you

• ថ្ងៃនេះគឺសើមនិងក្តៅ

  thngay nih kɨɨ saəm nɨng kdawthngay nih kuu saem nung kdaw

  Today is humid and hot.

• អ្នកគួរតែសន្សំ និងវិនិយោគលុយរបស់អ្នក

  nĕək kuə tae sɑnsɑm nɨng viniyook luy rɔbɑh nĕəkneek kue tae sansam nung viniyook luy robah neek

  You should save and invest your money.

02

'ហើយ' Joins Clauses / Actions

To link whole clauses or a sequence of actions ("and then"), use ហើយ (haəyhaey). The second clause may have a subject of its own, or carry on with the same one.

• ខ្ញុំស្រឡាញ់ពួកគេហើយពួកគេស្រឡាញ់ខ្ញុំ

  khñom srɑlañ puək kei haəy puək kei srɑlañ khñomkhnom sralan puek kei haey puek kei sralan khnom

  I love them and they love me.

• តោះទៅបារហើយផឹកស្រា។

  tɑh tɨw baa haəy phək sraatah tuw baa haey phek sraa

  Let's go to the bar and have a drink.

It can also open a sentence, picking up from the one before, exactly where English would begin with "And …".

• ហើយខ្ញុំក៏ជាអ្នកញ៉ាំបួសដែរ។

  haəy khñom kɑɑ ciə nĕək ñam buəh daehaey khnom kaa cie neek nam bueh dae

  And I'm a vegetarian too.

Beware its twin: a ហើយ (haəyhaey) at the end of a clause is usually not this conjunction at all but the completive particle, "already, now". See 'The Completive Particle ហើយ' — what tells them apart is whether a fresh clause follows.

03

'ប៉ុន្តែ' / 'តែ' — But

Contrast is introduced by ប៉ុន្តែ (pontae), the everyday default, or its shorter, more casual form តែ (tae).

• ខ្ញុំចង់ដុតនំ ប៉ុន្តែខ្ញុំមិនមានពងទេ

  khñom cɑng dot num pontae khñom mɨn miən pɔɔng teikhnom cang dot num pontae khnom mun mien poong tei

  I want to bake a cake, but I don't have eggs.

• វាតូចតែល្អ

  viə touc tae lʼɑɑvie touc tae laa

  It is small but good.

04

'ឬ' — Or

ឬ (rɨɨruu) most literally offers named alternatives, "or".

• វ៉ានីឡាឬសូកូឡា

  vaaniilaa rɨɨ soukoulaavaaniilaa ruu soukoulaa

  vanilla or chocolate

But its single most common job in everyday speech is different: tacked alone onto the end of a complete statement, with no second option ever stated, ឬ (rɨɨruu) turns the statement into a soft yes/no question — "...or?" It often follows the question opener តើ (taətae) and can combine with ទេ (tei) as ឬទេ (rɨɨ teiruu tei) ("...or not?"). See 'Tag Questions and Confirmation' for more on this use.

• តើអ្នកឈឺឬ

  taə nĕək chɨɨ rɨɨtae neek chuu ruu

  Are you sick (or)?

• តើអ្នកទៅទាន់រថភ្លើងដែរឬទេ

  taə nĕək tɨw tŏən rŭətphləəng dae rɨɨ teitae neek tuw toen ruetphleeng dae ruu tei

  Did you catch the train (or not)?

05

The 'និង' vs. 'ហើយ' Choice

This is the one to watch. Both mean "and," but they work at different scales. If you are joining items inside a single clause — nouns, or adjectives/verbs sharing one subject or object — use និង (nɨngnung); if you are joining two separate HAPPENINGS, whole clauses or actions in sequence, use ហើយ (haəyhaey). Using ហើយ (haəyhaey) to join simple parallel nouns/adjectives, or និង (nɨngnung) to link two full separate clauses, sounds wrong to a Khmer ear.