Prepositions of Place

01

The Core Place Words

• ក្នុង (knong) / នៅក្នុង (nɨw knongnuw knong) — "in, inside"
• លើ (ləəlee) / នៅលើ (nɨw ləənuw lee) — "on, on top of" (touching a surface)
• ពីលើ (pii ləəpii lee) — "above, over" (higher than, not necessarily touching)
• ក្រោម (kraom) — "under, below"
• មុខ (muk) — "in front of"
• ពីក្រោយ (pii kraoy) — "behind"
• រវាង (rɔviəngrovieng) — "between"

02

In Use

• សៀវភៅនៅក្នុងកាបូប

  siəw phɨw nɨw knong kaaboupsiew phuw nuw knong kaaboup

  The book is in the bag.

• រូបថតដ៏ស្រស់ស្អាតព្យួរនៅលើជញ្ជាំង

  ruup thɑɑt dɑɑ srɑh sʼaat pyuə nɨw ləə cŭəñcĕəngruup thaat daa srah saat pyue nuw lee cuenceeng

  A beautiful photo hangs on the wall.

• ភោជនីយដ្ឋានស្ថិតនៅពីលើស្ថានីយ៍រថភ្លើង

  phoocĕəʼniiyĕəʼthaan sthət nɨw pii ləə sthaanii rŭətphləəngphooceeniiyeethaan sthet nuw pii lee sthaanii ruetphleeng

  The restaurant is located above the train station.

• ឆ្មានៅក្រោមតុ

  chmaa nɨw kraom tokchmaa nuw kraom tok

  The cat is under the table.

• ឆ្កែនៅមុខផ្ទះ

  chkae nɨw muk phtĕəhchkae nuw muk phteeh

  The dog is in front of the house.

• ដំឡូងនៅពីក្រោយអ្នក

  dɑmloung nɨw pii kraoy nĕəkdamloung nuw pii kraoy neek

  The potato is behind you.

• តុនៅរវាងកៅអីពីរ

  tok nɨw rɔviəng kawʼəy piitok nuw rovieng kawey pii

  The table is between two chairs.

03

Built from 'នៅ' + a Relational Noun

Many of these combine នៅ (nɨwnuw) ("at") with a noun of position, so the literal sense is "at the inside" or "at the top of". This is why the locative នៅ (nɨwnuw) so often appears right before the place word.

04

Beyond Physical Space

រវាង (rɔviəngrovieng) "between" also extends from physical space to abstract "in-between-ness," like choosing between options.

• ខ្ញុំត្រូវសម្រេចចិត្តរវាងជម្រើសពីរ។

  khñom trəw sɑmrac cət rɔviəng cumrəəh piikhnom trew samrac cet rovieng cumreeh pii

  I have to decide between two choices.

05

Place vs. Direction

Static location uses these words; movement TO or FROM a place uses different ones — ទៅ (tɨwtuw) "to(ward)" and ពី (pii) "from". Pick the place words here for "where something is", and the direction words for "where something goes".

• ខ្ញុំនៅផ្សារ

  khñom nɨw phsaakhnom nuw phsaa

  I am at the market.

• ខ្ញុំទៅផ្សារ

  khñom tɨw phsaakhnom tuw phsaa

  I go to the market.

• ខ្ញុំមកពីផ្សារ

  khñom mɔɔk pii phsaakhnom mook pii phsaa

  I come from the market.

But when the verb itself already expresses entering or placing something into a bounded space — ចូល (coul) "enter" or ដាក់ (dak) "put" — the place word (without នៅ (nɨwnuw)) marks the goal of that action instead of a static location. ក្នុង (knong) still just means "in, inside"; the "into" sense comes from the verb, not from swapping in a different place word.

• ខ្ញុំដាក់ស្បែកជើងចូលក្នុងទូ។

  khñom dak sbaek cəəng coul knong tuukhnom dak sbaek ceeng coul knong tuu

  I put the shoes into the closet.