Possession with 'របស់'

01

The Basic Pattern: Thing + 'របស់' + Owner

• ឆ្កែរបស់ខ្ញុំ

  chkae rɔbɑh khñomchkae robah khnom

  my dog (lit. dog of me)

• ផ្ទះរបស់នាង

  phtĕəh rɔbɑh niəngphteeh robah nieng

  her house (lit. house of her)

• មិត្តរបស់គាត់

  mɨt rɔbɑh kŏətmut robah koet

  his/her friend

02

Owner Can Be a Pronoun, Name, or Noun

Whatever follows របស់ (rɔbɑhrobah) is the owner — a pronoun, a person's name, or a full noun phrase, all work the same way.

• ឡានរបស់គ្រូបង្រៀន

  laan rɔbɑh kruu bɑngriənlaan robah kruu bangrien

  the teacher's car

• កូនរបស់ពួកគេ

  koun rɔbɑh puək keikoun robah puek kei

  their child

• សៀវភៅរបស់ Anna

  siəw phɨw rɔbɑh Annasiew phuw robah Anna

  Anna's book

03

It Reads Like English 'of'

Because its core meaning is "of", របស់ (rɔbɑhrobah) reads naturally as an "of" phrase, and you can chain it ("the dog of the friend of mine").

• ឆ្កែរបស់មិត្តរបស់ខ្ញុំ

  chkae rɔbɑh mɨt rɔbɑh khñomchkae robah mut robah khnom

  my friend's dog (lit. dog of friend of me)

This also means "mine / yours" as a standalone idea is expressed with របស់ (rɔbɑhrobah) + the pronoun.

• នេះជារបស់ខ្ញុំ

  nih ciə rɔbɑh khñomnih cie robah khnom

  this is mine (lit. this is of me)

04

The Formal 'នៃ'

In careful, written or elevated style you may meet នៃ (nɨynuy), a more formal "of" used especially with dates and abstract nouns. In everyday speech របស់ (rɔbɑhrobah) is the default.

• ថ្ងៃដំបូងនៃខែឧសភា

  thngay dɑmboung nɨy khae ʼouhsaphiəthngay damboung nuy khae ouhsaphie

  the first day of May

• ទីប្រាំនៃខែតុលា

  tii pram nɨy khae toʼ liətii pram nuy khae to lie

  the fifth of October

• ផ្នែកនៃប្រយោគ

  phnaek nɨy prɑyookphnaek nuy prayook

  part of the sentence

• Khmer can also show close possession by simply placing two nouns side by side, e.g. សោឡាន (sao laan) — literally "key car" — for "the car key". In fast, casual speech, native speakers also frequently drop របស់ (rɔbɑhrobah) entirely even with pronouns (e.g., ផ្ទះខ្ញុំ (phtĕəh khñomphteeh khnom) for "my house"), but including it remains the reliable, unambiguous choice for a beginner.