Personal Pronouns

01

The Everyday Pronouns

The safe, neutral word for "I / me" is ខ្ញុំ (khñomkhnom), usable with almost anyone. For "you", the general-purpose textbook choice is អ្នក (nĕəkneek). While perfectly fine for beginners, it can feel slightly formal in casual conversation.

• ខ្ញុំស្គាល់អ្នក

  khñom skŏəl nĕəkkhnom skoel neek

  I know you.

• អ្នកស្គាល់ខ្ញុំ

  nĕək skŏəl khñomneek skoel khnom

  You know me.

For the third person, គាត់ (kŏətkoet) is a polite "he" or "she". នាង (niəngnieng) is specifically "she", but it is restricted to girls or younger female subordinates; using it for an older woman is impolite. Finally, វា (viəvie) is "it" — also a blunt "he/she" used for children, animals or things.

• គាត់ជាគ្រូបង្រៀន

  kŏət ciə kruu bɑngriənkoet cie kruu bangrien

  He is a teacher.

• នាងជាសិស្ស

  niəng ciə səhnieng cie seh

  She is a student.

• វាល្អ

  viə lʼɑɑvie laa

  It is good.

• តើឆ្មានៅឯណា

  taə chmaa nɨw ʼae naatae chmaa nuw ae naa

  Where is the cat?

• វានៅក្រោមតុ

  viə nɨw kraom tokvie nuw kraom tok

  It's under the table.

02

One Shape Everywhere: No Case

A Khmer pronoun never changes form. The same ខ្ញុំ (khñomkhnom) is the subject ("I"), the object ("me"), and — with the possessive របស់ (rɔbɑhrobah) — the owner ("my"). There is nothing like the English I / me / my split.

• ខ្ញុំស្គាល់គាត់

  khñom skŏəl kŏətkhnom skoel koet

  I know him. (subject)

• គាត់ស្គាល់ខ្ញុំ

  kŏət skŏəl khñomkoet skoel khnom

  He knows me. (object)

• ឆ្កែរបស់ខ្ញុំ

  chkae rɔbɑh khñomchkae robah khnom

  my dog (lit. dog of me) (possessor)

03

Plurals with 'ពួក'

Most plurals are built by putting the marker ពួក (puəkpuek) in front of the pronoun: ពួកគេ (puək keipuek kei) "they", ពួកយើង (puək yəəngpuek yeeng) "we (the group)", and ពួកអ្នក (puək nĕəkpuek neek) "you all". The word យើង (yəəngyeeng) already means "we / us" on its own.

• ពួកគេស្រឡាញ់ខ្ញុំ

  puək kei srɑlañ khñompuek kei sralan khnom

  They love me.

• ពួកយើងមានរឿងត្រូវនិយាយ

  puək yəəng miən rɨəng trəw niyiəypuek yeeng mien rueng trew niyiey

  We have something to talk about.

• ពួកអ្នកសប្បាយចិត្ត

  puək nĕək sapbaay cətpuek neek sapbaay cet

  You all are happy.

• ពួកគេមិនសប្បាយចិត្តទេ

  puək kei mɨn sapbaay cət teipuek kei mun sapbaay cet tei

  They are not happy.

• យើងទៅផ្សារ

  yəəng tɨw phsaayeeng tuw phsaa

  We go to the market.

04

Kinship Terms as Pronouns

Family words double as polite pronouns — a habit at the very heart of Khmer courtesy. Native speakers generally default to these over standard pronouns. បង (bɑɑngbaang) literally means "older sibling" and is used constantly as a respectful or friendly stand-in for a personal pronoun between two people of slightly different age: the younger speaker uses it for "you" when addressing the older one, and the older one can use that very same word for "I" when speaking back. Addressing people by their relationship, rather than a flat "you" or "I", is what makes speech sound polite.

• បងសុខសប្បាយទេ

  bɑɑng sok sapbaay teibaang sok sapbaay tei

  Are you (elder) well?

• បងចង់ជួយ

  bɑɑng cɑng cuəybaang cang cuey

  I (elder) want to help.

05

Casual and Generic Pronouns

Two more pronouns turn up often in relaxed speech. ឯង (ʼaengaeng) is an informal "you", used between close friends or with children — it can swap in for អ្នក (nĕəkneek) in casual talk, but is too blunt for anyone you should address politely. គេ (kei) is a bare, more generic "they/them", close in meaning to ពួកគេ (puək keipuek kei) but often pointing at unspecified "other people" rather than one particular group already named.

• អ្នកឈឺហើយ

  nĕək chɨɨ haəyneek chuu haey

  You are sick.

• ឯងមើលទៅឈឺហើយ

  ʼaeng məəl tɨw chɨɨ haəyaeng meel tuw chuu haey

  You look sick.

• គេថាភ្លៀងខ្លាំង

  kei thaa phliəng khlangkei thaa phlieng khlang

  They say it's raining hard.

06

Reflexive and Reciprocal Pronouns

Khmer also has dedicated words for "oneself" and "each other", separate from the personal pronouns above. Reflexive "oneself" is ខ្លួនឯង (khluən ʼaengkhluen aeng) — notice it ends with the same informal ឯង (ʼaengaeng) used above for "you"; compounded here, it no longer means "you" but simply intensifies "self", the way English "-self" works in "myself". The reciprocal "each other" is គ្នា (kniəknie).

• ខ្ញុំធ្វើវាដោយខ្លួនឯង

  khñom thvəə viə daoy khluən ʼaengkhnom thvee vie daoy khluen aeng

  I do it by myself.

• ជួបគ្នាឆាប់ៗ

  cuəp kniə chap chapcuep knie chap chap

  See each other soon!

07

Dropping the Pronoun

When who is being talked about is already obvious, Khmer often leaves the pronoun out altogether. A reply can be just a verb and its object, with the subject understood from the conversation — so do not expect every sentence to begin with an "I" or "you".

• តើអ្នកចេះពាក្យអាឡឺម៉ង់ទេ

  taə nĕək ceh piək ʼaalɨmɑɑng teitae neek ceh piek aalumaang tei

  Do you know German words?

• ទេ មិនចេះទេ

  tei mɨn ceh teitei mun ceh tei

  No, don't know.