Having and Existence with 'មាន'

01

Possession: 'to Have'

• ខ្ញុំមានឆ្កែ

  khñom miən chkaekhnom mien chkae

  I have a dog.

• គាត់មានឡានថ្មី

  kŏət miən laan thməykoet mien laan thmey

  He has a new car.

• ខ្ញុំមានកូនពីរនាក់

  khñom miən koun pii nĕəkkhnom mien koun pii neek

  I have two children.

• តើអ្នកមានពេលទេ

  taə nĕək miən peel teitae neek mien peel tei

  Do you have time?

02

Existence: 'There Is / There Are'

With no possessor, មាន (miənmien) announces that something exists or is present — the way English starts with "there is".

• មានមនុស្សច្រើន

  miən mɔnuh craənmien monuh craen

  There are many people.

• មានបញ្ហាទេ

  miən bañhaa teimien banhaa tei

  Is there a problem?

03

Set Phrases: 'មាន' + Quality Noun = 'To Be...'

មាន (miənmien) + an abstract or quality noun is a very productive pattern where English uses "to be" + an adjective. Feelings and age are the most familiar examples — មាន (miənmien) + អារម្មណ៍ (ʼaarɑmaaram) ("feeling") = "to feel", and មាន (miənmien) + អាយុ (ʼaayuʼaayu) ("age") = "to be (so many years) old" — but the same construction just as routinely describes shape, taste, color, price, safety, and character.

• ខ្ញុំមានអារម្មណ៍ល្អ

  khñom miən ʼaarɑm lʼɑɑkhnom mien aaram laa

  I feel good.

• គាត់មានអាយុកៅសិបប្រាំឆ្នាំ

  kŏət miən ʼaayuʼ kaw səp pram chnamkoet mien aayu kaw sep pram chnam

  He is ninety-five years old.

• ផែនដីមានរាងមូល

  phaen dəy miən riəng muulphaen dey mien rieng muul

  The earth is round.

• ខូគីនោះមានរសជាតិផ្អែម

  khoukii nuh miən rŭəh ciət phʼaemkhoukii nuh mien rueh ciet phaem

  That cookie tastes sweet.

• ផ្កាទាំងនេះមានពណ៌ស្រស់ស្អាត

  phkaa tĕəng nih miən pɔə srɑh sʼaatphkaa teeng nih mien poe srah saat

  These flowers have a beautiful color.

• ទូកទាំងនោះមានតម្លៃថ្លៃណាស់

  tuuk tĕəng nuh miən tɑmlay thlay nahtuuk teeng nuh mien tamlay thlay nah

  Those boats are very expensive.

• ការហោះហើរមានសុវត្ថិភាព

  kaa hɑhhaə miən sovatthephiəpkaa hahhae mien sovatthephiep

  The flight is safe.

• ប្រជាជនមានភាពរួសរាយរាក់ទាក់

  prɑɑciəcŭən miən phiəp ruəhriəyrĕəktĕəkpraaciecuen mien phiep ruehrieyreekteek

  The people are friendly.

• តើខោនេះមានប្រវែងប៉ុន្មាន

  taə khao nih miən prɑvaeng ponmaantae khao nih mien pravaeng ponmaan

  How long are these pants?

04

The Negatives: 'អត់មាន', 'មិនមាន', and 'គ្មាន'

To say "don't have" or "there isn't," everyday spoken Khmer typically uses អត់មាន (ʼɑt miənat mien). The formal equivalent is មិនមាន (mɨn miənmun mien). គ្មាន (kmiənkmien) means the same thing — "don't have" / "there isn't" — but is a single fused word (historically មាន (miənmien) with a negative prefix) rather than two words; like the others, it can optionally be closed with a final ទេ (tei).

• ខ្ញុំអត់មានលុយទេ

  khñom ʼɑt miən luy teikhnom at mien luy tei

  I don't have money. (casual)

• នាងមិនមានការងារធ្វើទេ

  niəng mɨn miən kaa ngiə thvəə teinieng mun mien kaa ngie thvee tei

  She doesn't have a job. (formal)

• ខ្ញុំគ្មានលុយ

  khñom kmiən luykhnom kmien luy

  I don't have any money.

• ខ្ញុំគ្មានពេលទេ

  khñom kmiən peel teikhnom kmien peel tei

  I don't have time.