Modal Verbs: 'អាច', 'ត្រូវ', 'ត្រូវការ', 'គួរ', 'ចង់' — Khmer Grammar

Ability, obligation, advice, and desire are carried by small helper verbs placed directly before the main verb. None of them change form, and several can stack in a single clause.

'អាច' — Can / Be Able To

(ʼaacaac) marks ability or possibility. It very often teams up with a closing (baan) ("…be able to do it"), giving the frame (ʼaacaac) … (baan).

ខ្ញុំអាចជួយបាន
khñom ʼaac cuəy baankhnom aac cuey baan
I can help.
តើអ្នកអាចបើកទ្វារបានទេ
taə nĕək ʼaac baək tviə baan teitae neek aac baek tvie baan tei
Can you open the door?

'ត្រូវ' — Must / Have To

(trəwtrew) expresses obligation or necessity.

ខ្ញុំត្រូវទៅ
khñom trəw tɨwkhnom trew tuw
I have to go.
អ្នកត្រូវរៀន
nĕək trəw riənneek trew rien
You have to study.

'ត្រូវការ' — To Need

(trəw kaatrew kaa) means "to need" and can take either a noun ("need a car") or a verb ("need to …").

ខ្ញុំត្រូវការឡាន
khñom trəw kaa laankhnom trew kaa laan
I need a car.
ខ្ញុំត្រូវការសម្រាក
khñom trəw kaa sɑmraakkhnom trew kaa samraak
I need to rest.

'គួរ' / 'គួរតែ' — Should

For advice and recommendation, use (kuəkue), often strengthened to (kuə taekue tae) ("really ought to"). Beyond advice, (kuəkue)/ (kuə taekue tae) can also express an epistemic expectation about how something should be, rather than advice given to anyone.

តើយើងគួរទៅមើលកុនទេ
taə yəəng kuə tɨw məəl kon teitae yeeng kue tuw meel kon tei
Should we go watch a movie?
អ្នកគួរតែសម្រាក
nĕək kuə tae sɑmraakneek kue tae samraak
You should rest.
ខ្ញុំគិតថាម្ហូបគួរតែហឹរ
khñom kɨt thaa mhoup kuə tae haəkhnom kut thaa mhoup kue tae hae
I think the food should be spicy.

'ចង់' — Want To

(cɑngcang) before a verb expresses desire, "want to (do)".

ខ្ញុំចង់ទៅផ្ទះ
khñom cɑng tɨw phtĕəhkhnom cang tuw phteeh
I want to go home.
ខ្ញុំចង់ញ៉ាំបាយ
khñom cɑng ñam baaykhnom cang nam baay
I want to eat.

Modals Can Stack

More than one modal can appear in a single clause.

អ្នកគួរតែអាចជួយបាន
nĕək kuə tae ʼaac cuəy baanneek kue tae aac cuey baan
You should be able to help.

Negating Modals

(ʼaacaac), (trəw kaatrew kaa), (kuəkue) and (cɑngcang) negate straightforwardly with the ordinary (mɨnmun) … (tei) frame around the modal: "can't", "don't need", "shouldn't", "don't want to". (trəwtrew), though, flips meaning under this same frame: negating "must" gives "must not" (a prohibition), not "don't have to" — the same quirk English "must" has ("You must not leave" isn't "You don't have to leave"). For the other meaning — that there is no obligation in the first place — Khmer does not negate (trəwtrew) at all; it uses a separate "no need to" expression instead.

ខ្ញុំមិនអាចទៅទេ
khñom mɨn ʼaac tɨw teikhnom mun aac tuw tei
I can't go.
ខ្ញុំមិនត្រូវការឡានទេ
khñom mɨn trəw kaa laan teikhnom mun trew kaa laan tei
I don't need a car.
ខ្ញុំមិនត្រូវចាកចេញទេ
khñom mɨn trəw caak cəñ teikhnom mun trew caak cen tei
I must not leave.
អ្នកមិនគួរចូលទេ
nĕək mɨn kuə coul teineek mun kue coul tei
You shouldn't enter.
ខ្ញុំមិនចង់ទៅទេ
khñom mɨn cɑng tɨw teikhnom mun cang tuw tei
I don't want to go.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Khmer course

81 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 8. A few of them, with the words “Modal Verbs: 'អាច', 'ត្រូវ', 'ត្រូវការ', 'គួរ', 'ចង់'” is about in bold:

ខ្ញុំចង់ទៅផ្ទះឥឡូវនេះ។
khñom cɑng tɨw phtĕəh ʼəyləw nih.khnom cang tuw phteeh eylew nih.
I want to go home now.
Lesson 71
ខ្ញុំត្រូវជិះកង់រហូតដល់ខ្ញុំបានឡានថ្មី។
khñom trəw cih kɑng rɔhout dɑl khñom baan laan thməy.khnom trew cih kang rohout dal khnom baan laan thmey.
I have to ride my bike until I get a new car.
Lesson 301
ខ្ញុំចង់ទិញរុក្ខជាតិនេះ។ ដឹងតែស្អាតម៉ងដាក់ក្នុងបន្ទប់របស់ខ្ញុំ។
khñom cɑng tɨñ rukkhaʼciət nih. dəng tae sʼaat mɑɑng dak knong bɑntup rɔbɑh khñom.khnom cang tun rukkhaciet nih. deng tae saat maang dak knong bantup robah khnom.
I want to buy this plant. It will look great in my room.
Lesson 384

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